Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Lifted to “Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) was upgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $34.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $26.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.86% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on LNC. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Finally, TheStreet lowered Lincoln National from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.90.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE LNC opened at $30.67 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.23. Lincoln National has a 12-month low of $20.47 and a 12-month high of $32.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.20, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the first quarter worth $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln National by 3,930.8% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 249.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Company Profile

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.