Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Trading Down 5.9%

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)’s stock price was down 5.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $25.80 and last traded at $26.07. Approximately 1,521,260 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 1,874,454 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on LNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Lincoln National from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.45.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $28.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.53. The firm has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 1.80.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Lincoln National had a negative net margin of 6.46% and a positive return on equity of 20.81%. On average, analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.68%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently -36.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, Director Owen Ryan bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.90 per share, with a total value of $259,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $259,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 2,107.9% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,279,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,703,000 after buying an additional 4,085,637 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,026,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 53.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,157,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098,532 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,688,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $584,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094,789 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 82.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,758,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,424,000 after purchasing an additional 792,900 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lincoln National

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.