New Century Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 292.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 32,549 shares during the period. Lincoln National accounts for approximately 1.8% of New Century Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LNC. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,854,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,335,000 after acquiring an additional 97,600 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Lincoln National by 7.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,084,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,753,000 after purchasing an additional 208,114 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 6.1% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,566,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,155,000 after purchasing an additional 146,667 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 84.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,041,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,039,000 after buying an additional 935,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,597,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,381,000 after buying an additional 5,936 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research raised Lincoln National to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “positive” rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, National Bankshares set a $41.00 price objective on Lincoln National in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.45.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $40.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.05, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.43. Lincoln National Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.58 and a twelve month high of $43.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.25 and a 200 day moving average of $35.77.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.14% and a net margin of 6.34%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.41%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total value of $196,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 123,815 shares in the company, valued at $4,864,691.35. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

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.