Analysts Set Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) Price Target at $42.82

Shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.40.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LNC shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Lincoln National to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, National Bankshares set a $44.00 target price on shares of Lincoln National in a report on Monday, November 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Owen Ryan bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $42.17 per share, with a total value of $84,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $506,040. This represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 4,083.7% during the first quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,000 after buying an additional 19,234 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Lincoln National by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,566,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,155,000 after acquiring an additional 146,667 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the 1st quarter worth $449,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 3.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 267,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,595,000 after purchasing an additional 10,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 7.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,084,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,753,000 after purchasing an additional 208,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:LNC opened at $41.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.49. Lincoln National has a one year low of $27.58 and a one year high of $43.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.78.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.14% and a net margin of 6.34%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is currently 16.16%.

Lincoln National Company Profile

Lincoln National Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses in the United States. It operates in four segments: Life Insurance, Annuities, Group Protection, and Retirement Plan Services. The Life Insurance segment provides life insurance products, including term insurance, universal life insurance (UL), indexed universal life insurance, variable universal life insurance (VUL), linked-benefit UL and VUL products, and critical illness and long-term care riders.