Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential downside of 0.95% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upped their target price on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company 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. Barclays increased their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.40.

Lincoln National Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of LNC stock opened at $39.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Lincoln National has a 1-year low of $25.60 and a 1-year high of $39.35. The company has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.15, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.66.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LNC. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 535.5% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings 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 valued at $5,038,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.