Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Price Target Lowered to $38.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price objective decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on LNC. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.91.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of LNC stock traded down $2.76 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $29.80. The company had a trading volume of 2,413,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,991,643. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.02 and its 200 day moving average is $34.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. Lincoln National has a 12 month low of $25.80 and a 12 month high of $39.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.62, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted 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, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.04%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LNC. M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.