Kercheville Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Kercheville Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 6,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $450,000. 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 acquiring an additional 53,300 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at $295,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,521 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Lincoln National stock opened at $33.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Lincoln National Co. has a twelve month low of $27.58 and a twelve month high of $39.85. The company has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 1.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.40.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. Lincoln National’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. Research analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.44%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is currently 25.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.10, for a total transaction of $333,482.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,743 shares in the company, valued at $1,613,393.30. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total transaction of $1,429,929.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 154,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,051,463.56. This trade represents a 22.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lincoln National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.82.

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.