Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,874 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.10% of Lincoln National worth $5,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its position in shares of Lincoln National by 182.2% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LNC shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price target on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.91.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC opened at $29.52 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.08. The company has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a PE ratio of 1.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Lincoln National Co. has a 52-week low of $25.80 and a 52-week high of $39.85.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced 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 predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors 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 6.10%. 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.