Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Price Target Raised to $42.00

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $39.00 to $42.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of 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 raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.40.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $39.00 on Friday. Lincoln National has a twelve month low of $25.60 and a twelve month high of $39.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.23. The company has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 2.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.79. 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 (NYSE:LNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LNC. M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 535.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 95.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 72.81% of the stock is currently 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.