Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Lincoln National from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. TheStreet lowered shares of Lincoln National from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.60.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $31.93. The company had a trading volume of 2,492,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,974,205. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.75. Lincoln National has a 12 month low of $18.50 and a 12 month high of $32.43. The firm has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.40, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.79.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.13. Lincoln National had a negative net margin of 6.46% and a positive return on equity of 20.81%. The business had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Lincoln National will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In related news, Director Owen Ryan purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.90 per share, with a total value of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $259,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Lincoln National by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its position in Lincoln National by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 4,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Security Financial Services INC. lifted its position in Lincoln National by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 8,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Vident Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Lincoln National by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Vident Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its position in Lincoln National by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 162,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,192,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.