Loudon Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Loudon Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 128,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National makes up about 2.3% of Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $4,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LNC. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,189,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,155,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,281,000 after purchasing an additional 223,129 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,355,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,206,000 after purchasing an additional 207,800 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,763,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $150,104,000 after purchasing an additional 193,025 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LNC. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.40.

Lincoln National Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $36.62 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $25.80 and a 12-month high of $39.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.99, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.69.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. Analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is currently 9.79%.

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.