Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 164,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,192 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $5,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 535.5% during the 3rd 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 increased its position in shares of Lincoln National by 95.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 459.9% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.10.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC stock opened at $37.40 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $34.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.13. The stock has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of 2.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.79. Lincoln National Co. has a 12 month low of $25.60 and a 12 month high of $39.85.

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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.79%.

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.