Morgan Stanley Cuts Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Price Target to $32.00

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $42.00 to $32.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

LNC has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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. 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 report on Wednesday. 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 note on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.91.

Lincoln National Trading Down 0.9 %

LNC opened at $29.52 on Thursday. Lincoln National has a 12 month low of $25.80 and a 12 month high of $39.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.08. The firm has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.61, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is presently 9.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LNC. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Lincoln National by 13.5% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 239,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,534,000 after buying an additional 28,388 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,227,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,244,000 after acquiring an additional 79,955 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 3rd quarter valued at about $792,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the 3rd quarter worth about $285,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Lincoln National during the third quarter worth approximately $1,291,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.