On Dec 5, 2016, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Lincoln National Corp. LNC to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
The stock seems attractive to us given that it has gained 31% compared to 11.1% gain logged by the Zacks categorized Life Insurance industry. The stock price movement must have been driven by the efforts taken by the company to successfully respond to macro challenges. These actions, which include disciplined expense and capital management, and changes to product and business mix have helped the company to sustain its earnings growth.
The company is changing its business mix to incline more toward Life products without long-term guarantees. In its Life Insurance segment, the proportion of sales with guarantees declined from 66% in 2009 to approximately 20% in 2015. A decline in exposure to products without long-term guarantees will shield the company from huge claims. In the third quarter, 65% of the company’s sales did not have long-term guarantees compared with 73% in the second quarter.
Also, in order to streamline its business, the company has been making efforts to shed noncore and lower profit generating businesses over the past five years. Lincoln Financial has exited several noncore businesses. Some of these include the sale of its U.K. operations in 2009 and media business in 2015.
The company’s capital management via consistent share buyback and dividend payment also seems attractive. Last month, the company announced a 16% increase in its quarterly dividend to 29 cents per share. Also, the company deployed 76% (in the first nine months of 2016) of its operating earnings toward buybacks and dividends, crossing its annual target of 50% to 55%.
The stock also witnessed an increase in earnings estimates. The estimates for 2016 have moved up by 2.6% to $6.28 per share over the past 30 days with five out of the six analysts covering the stockpushing up their estimates.
While Lincoln National carries a favorable Zacks Rank, investors may also consider players like Alleghany Corp. Y , Arch Capital Group Limited ACGL and First American Financial Corporation FAF. Each of these stocks carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Alleghany delivered positive surprises in three of the last four quarters, with an average beat of 20.52%.
Arch Capital beat expectations in each of the last four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 9.27%.
First American Financial Corporation delivered positive surprises in each of the last four quarters, with an average beat of 62.8%.
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