Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Position Increased by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 1,818.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 661,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 627,466 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.39% of Lincoln National worth $23,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 330,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,488,000 after buying an additional 41,533 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 20,127.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 316,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,051,000 after purchasing an additional 315,398 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,050,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 92.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 119,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,747,000 after purchasing an additional 57,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 462.6% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 59,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 48,969 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.82.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In other news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total transaction of $1,429,929.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 154,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,051,463.56. This trade represents a 22.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.10, for a total transaction of $333,482.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,613,393.30. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE:LNC opened at $33.33 on Wednesday. Lincoln National Co. has a 1 year low of $27.58 and a 1 year high of $39.85. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 1.81, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.40.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. Lincoln National’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.40%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is presently 25.57%.

About Lincoln National

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.