CSM Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

CSM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 334,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,481,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 6.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,903,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,934 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 0.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,199,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,504,000 after acquiring an additional 40,676 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Lincoln National by 21.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,952,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035,505 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Lincoln National by 25.3% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,730,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157,599 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Lincoln National by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,879,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,805,000 after purchasing an additional 234,415 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In related news, EVP James Waltman Reid sold 3,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.81, for a total transaction of $127,520.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 118,567 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,286.27. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder National Life Insuranc Lincoln acquired 2,254,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.09 per share, with a total value of $25,002,249.74. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 9,784,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,508,130.98. This represents a 29.94% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,050 shares of company stock valued at $734,041. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LNC. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln National in a report on Monday, December 29th. National Bank Financial set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on Lincoln National in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.46.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.2%

LNC opened at $32.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.88. Lincoln National Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $27.58 and a fifty-two week high of $46.82.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.35. Lincoln National had a net margin of 6.46% and a return on equity of 18.52%. The company had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is 33.90%.

Lincoln National Profile

Lincoln National Corporation, doing business as Lincoln Financial Group, is a diversified financial services holding company focused on providing retirement, insurance, and wealth management solutions in the United States and select international markets. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, the company operates through several business segments, including Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance, and Group Protection. Its offerings are designed to help individuals, families, and institutions plan and prepare for their financial futures.

The Retirement Plan Services segment delivers recordkeeping, administrative services, and investment management for defined contribution and defined benefit plans.