Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Lincoln National in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on Lincoln National from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.00.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LNC opened at $32.81 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.87. Lincoln National has a twelve month low of $20.85 and a twelve month high of $36.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 4.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.81.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 17.13%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.62%.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LNC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Lincoln National by 4,737.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 98,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,116,000 after buying an additional 96,843 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 8,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 159,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,038,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 535.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOS Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 10.1% in the third quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC now owns 10,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. 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.