Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $34.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $26.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on LNC. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln National from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $29.90.

Lincoln National Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of LNC stock opened at $32.67 on Wednesday. Lincoln National has a fifty-two week low of $20.47 and a fifty-two week high of $32.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 11.31% and a return on equity of 19.50%. Equities research analysts predict that Lincoln National will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.51%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 48.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 20,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $655,000 after acquiring an additional 6,655 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 384.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 59,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,904,000 after buying an additional 47,312 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 122.5% during the first quarter. Algebris UK Ltd now owns 861,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,582,000 after buying an additional 474,171 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the first quarter worth about $615,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Lincoln National by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 30,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 6,207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.