Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Price Target Raised to $28.00

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Lincoln National from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Saturday, April 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $28.45.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE:LNC opened at $28.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of -5.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.81. Lincoln National has a fifty-two week low of $18.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.43.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Lincoln National had a negative net margin of 6.46% and a positive return on equity of 20.81%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently -36.07%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In other news, Director Owen Ryan acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.90 per share, with a total value of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 4.2% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 7.1% during the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 4,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. Security Financial Services INC. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 8,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Vident Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Vident Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 0.3% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 162,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,192,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

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.