Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $39.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Lincoln National traded as high as $39.04 and last traded at $38.94, with a volume of 1720419 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $38.38.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Lincoln National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 6,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.70.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.