Woodstock Corp Cuts Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Woodstock Corp lowered its position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,538 shares during the quarter. Woodstock Corp’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LNC. Achmea Investment Management B.V. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 368.9% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 1,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.89% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln National stock traded up $0.37 on Friday, reaching $26.08. 474,194 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,112,657. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $18.50 and a fifty-two week high of $54.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.13.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.10. Lincoln National had a negative return on equity of 22.54% and a negative net margin of 18.67%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 9th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.90%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -10.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Lincoln National from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on Lincoln National from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Lincoln National from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lincoln National from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Lincoln National in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.08.

Lincoln National Profile

Lincoln National Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses in the United States. It operates through four segments: Life Insurance, Annuities, Group Protection, and Retirement Plan Services. The company's Life Insurance segment provides life insurance products, including term insurance, such as single and survivorship versions of universal life insurance; variable universal life insurance; indexed universal life insurance products; and critical illness and long-term care riders.