Lincoln National (LNC) Competitors

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) and Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and risk.

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in LNC or BHF?

72.8% of Lincoln National shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Brighthouse Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Lincoln National shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Brighthouse Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, LNC or BHF?

Lincoln National has a beta of 1.42, indicating that its stock price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brighthouse Financial has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to LNC or BHF?

In the previous week, Lincoln National had 10 more articles in the media than Brighthouse Financial. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Lincoln National and 10 mentions for Brighthouse Financial. Lincoln National's average media sentiment score of 0.97 beat Brighthouse Financial's score of 0.23 indicating that Lincoln National is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lincoln National	9 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Brighthouse Financial	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is LNC or BHF more profitable?

Brighthouse Financial has a net margin of 10.24% compared to Lincoln National's net margin of 6.34%. Brighthouse Financial's return on equity of 21.49% beat Lincoln National's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lincoln National	6.34%	19.14%	0.38%
Brighthouse Financial	10.24%	21.49%	0.48%

Do analysts rate LNC or BHF?

Lincoln National currently has a consensus target price of $39.22, suggesting a potential upside of 2.76%. Brighthouse Financial has a consensus target price of $60.67, suggesting a potential upside of 36.27%. Given Brighthouse Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Brighthouse Financial is more favorable than Lincoln National.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lincoln National	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Brighthouse Financial	2 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.13

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, LNC or BHF?

Lincoln National has higher revenue and earnings than Brighthouse Financial. Brighthouse Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lincoln National, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lincoln National	$18.44B	0.39	$3.28B	$5.73	6.66
Brighthouse Financial	$4.72B	0.54	$388M	$8.34	5.34

Summary

Brighthouse Financial beats Lincoln National on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.