Royce & Associates LP Increases Stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 54.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 3,972 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 2,282 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln National in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Lincoln National by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 159,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,019,000 after buying an additional 4,365 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE:LNC opened at $36.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 1.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. 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 data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company 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 4.91%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 9.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.40.

Lincoln National 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.