Trust Investment Advisors Boosts Stock Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Trust Investment Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 7.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,281,000 after acquiring an additional 223,129 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Lincoln National by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 10,560 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,050,000. Amundi raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 92.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 119,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,747,000 after buying an additional 57,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,075,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.40.

Lincoln National Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of LNC stock opened at $37.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.05, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. Lincoln National Co. has a 1 year low of $25.80 and a 1 year high of $39.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.85.

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

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 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.