Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Stock Price

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $44.00 to $46.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price suggests a potential upside of 12.97% from the stock’s previous close.

LNC has been the topic of a number of other reports. National Bank Financial set a $51.00 target price on Lincoln National in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lincoln National from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays upgraded shares of Lincoln National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln National presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.79.

Lincoln National Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $40.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. Lincoln National has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $46.82. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.73. The firm has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.71, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.17.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.17%.The firm had revenue of $4.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. Lincoln National’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln National will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Craigt T. Beazer sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total value of $1,033,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 103,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,579,561.70. This trade represents a 22.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bain Capital Prairie LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at $835,360,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,755,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $275,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522,179 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Lincoln National by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,199,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,504,000 after purchasing an additional 40,676 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Lincoln National by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,823,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,722,000 after purchasing an additional 141,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,959,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,801,000 after purchasing an additional 14,842 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Company Profile

Lincoln National Corporation, doing business as Lincoln Financial Group, is a diversified financial services holding company focused on providing retirement, insurance, and wealth management solutions in the United States and select international markets. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, the company operates through several business segments, including Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance, and Group Protection. Its offerings are designed to help individuals, families, and institutions plan and prepare for their financial futures.

The Retirement Plan Services segment delivers recordkeeping, administrative services, and investment management for defined contribution and defined benefit plans.