Vision Financial Markets LLC Takes Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at $1,050,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $249,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 27,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 13,141 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on LNC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.40.

Lincoln National Trading Up 1.5 %

Lincoln National stock opened at $36.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.98, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. Lincoln National Co. has a one year low of $25.80 and a one year high of $39.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $34.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.36.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.79%.

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.