Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,900 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Lincoln National worth $5,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 4.0% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 8,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 6.2% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 13.3% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 1.6% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 26,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $819,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 4.4% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 10,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lincoln National from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.25.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC opened at $34.85 on Friday. Lincoln National Co. has a 12 month low of $23.78 and a 12 month high of $36.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.77.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.42. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 2.51%. The firm had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.16%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $103,068.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,644 shares in the company, valued at $3,587,184. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Lincoln National

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.