Analysts Set Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Target Price at $28.45

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $28.45.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TheStreet downgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, Director Owen Ryan purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,688,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $584,943,000 after buying an additional 1,094,789 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 2,107.9% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,279,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,703,000 after acquiring an additional 4,085,637 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 53.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,157,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,532 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,127,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,383,000 after purchasing an additional 166,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln National by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,068,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,785,000 after purchasing an additional 107,769 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC opened at $28.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. Lincoln National has a one year low of $18.50 and a one year high of $32.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $28.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.56. The stock has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.84, a PEG ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 1.80.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.50% and a net margin of 11.31%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.41%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.62%.

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.