Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stock Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 30.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,100 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 45,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after buying an additional 1,521 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $295,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 2,015 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 6,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 152,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,846,000 after purchasing an additional 53,300 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.10.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $37.96 on Friday. Lincoln National Co. has a twelve month low of $25.60 and a twelve month high of $39.85. 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 has a market capitalization of $6.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.16.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.74%. Lincoln National’s dividend 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.