Lincoln National (LNC) Competitors

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) and Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, community ranking, profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Does the media prefer LNC or UNM?

In the previous week, Unum Group had 18 more articles in the media than Lincoln National. MarketBeat recorded 25 mentions for Unum Group and 7 mentions for Lincoln National. Unum Group's average media sentiment score of 0.96 beat Lincoln National's score of 0.84 indicating that Unum Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lincoln National	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Unum Group	10 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of LNC or UNM?

72.8% of Lincoln National shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.6% of Unum Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Lincoln National shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Unum Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is LNC or UNM more profitable?

Unum Group has a net margin of 13.76% compared to Lincoln National's net margin of 2.51%. Lincoln National's return on equity of 18.15% beat Unum Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lincoln National	2.51%	18.15%	0.32%
Unum Group	13.76%	15.21%	2.49%

Do analysts prefer LNC or UNM?

Lincoln National currently has a consensus price target of $33.00, indicating a potential downside of 3.68%. Unum Group has a consensus price target of $67.73, indicating a potential downside of 6.75%. Given Lincoln National's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Lincoln National is more favorable than Unum Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lincoln National	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.08
Unum Group	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in LNC or UNM?

Lincoln National received 92 more outperform votes than Unum Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 50.89% of users gave Lincoln National an outperform vote while only 47.19% of users gave Unum Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Lincoln National	Outperform Votes 486 50.89%	Underperform Votes 469 49.11%
Unum Group	Outperform Votes 394 47.19%	Underperform Votes 441 52.81%

Is LNC or UNM a better dividend stock?

Lincoln National pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Unum Group pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Lincoln National pays out 128.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Unum Group pays out 18.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Unum Group has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Which has more risk & volatility, LNC or UNM?

Lincoln National has a beta of 1.79, meaning that its share price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Unum Group has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, LNC or UNM?

Unum Group has higher revenue and earnings than Lincoln National. Unum Group 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	$11.65B	0.50	-$752M	$1.40	24.47
Unum Group	$12.39B	1.07	$1.28B	$9.24	7.86

Summary

Unum Group beats Lincoln National on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.