Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) Plans $0.45 Quarterly Dividend

Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, February 2nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th.

Lincoln National has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years. Lincoln National has a dividend payout ratio of 23.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Lincoln National to earn $8.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.6%.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LNC traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.42. 336,029 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,882,001. The company has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of 7.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.29. Lincoln National has a 12-month low of $27.58 and a 12-month high of $43.66.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.14% and a net margin of 6.34%.During the same period last year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Lincoln National to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Lincoln National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Lincoln National from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.82.

Lincoln National Company 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.