Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Now Covered by Analysts at Barclays

Barclays began coverage on shares of Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $35.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on LNC. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $32.64.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE:LNC opened at $31.47 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 4.31, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.84. Lincoln National has a 1 year low of $20.85 and a 1 year high of $36.46.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.07. Lincoln National had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln National will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 24.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LNC. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the second quarter worth about $142,148,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at $54,026,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 59.2% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,086,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,896 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $584,943,000 after buying an additional 1,094,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,649,000. 72.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.