Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Price Target to $38.00

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LNC. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays increased their target price on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.91.

Remove Ads

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC traded up $0.35 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.85. 1,377,412 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,609,641. The company has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.62, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. Lincoln National has a 1 year low of $25.80 and a 1 year high of $39.85. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $35.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. Lincoln National's payout ratio is 9.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 13.5% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 239,091 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,534,000 after purchasing an additional 28,388 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,227,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $196,244,000 after acquiring an additional 79,955 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the third quarter valued at approximately $792,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $285,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,291,000. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.