Lincoln National Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses in the United States. It operates through four segments: Life Insurance, Annuities, Group Protection, and Retirement Plan Services. The company was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania.
Fed Hikes Rates 25 Basis Points to 3.75%-4%, First Increase Since 2023
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points under Chair Kevin Warsh, lifting the federal funds rate target range to 3.75%-4% in a unanimous decision that marked its first rate increase since 2023 and a reversal after three consecutive cuts had lowered the range to 3.5%-3.75% by December 2025. Fed officials weighed the risk that inflation could stay high for longer, driven by rising fuel prices from the Iran war and ongoing effects of tariffs, especially since the job market was still strong, and the Fed also lowered its unemployment-rate projection to 4.1%, with another rate increase possible before year-end. President Trump strongly criticized the decision, arguing U.S. interest rates should be 1% or lower because of the country's strong credit standing and accelerating investment activity, while the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq all declined in yesterday's trading session. Insurers appear broadly well-positioned to benefit from the shift, with life and annuity insurers likely to gain the most as higher rates let them reinvest maturing bonds and deploy new premium inflows at more attractive yields, while property and casualty insurers face a more mixed impact because energy-related inflation and tariffs could raise automobile repair, construction and medical costs. Reinsurance Group of America and Lincoln National could gain from significant exposure to spread-based annuity products and long-duration bond portfolios, while Travelers' large investment portfolio could provide a more modest boost to investment income.
Lincoln National Posts Eighth Straight Quarter of Earnings Growth
Lincoln National Corporation reported second-quarter adjusted operating income available to common stockholders of $439 million, up 3% year over year and marking the eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. The company said holding company liquidity stood at about $903 million after prefunding, leverage was around 25%, and its RBC ratio was above 420%, leaving capital constraints less binding as it shifts from rebuilding capital to deploying it. Lincoln also plans to reinsure roughly $5.8 billion of legacy life reserves, a move expected to enhance capital efficiency and cash-flow visibility, while its Retirement Plan Services unit increased operating income 32% year over year. The company recently reconfirmed its common share repurchase authorization. Among peers, Prudential Financial returned $743 million to shareholders in the second quarter through $250 million in share repurchases and $493 million in dividends, and MetLife returned $1.1 billion while announcing a new $3 billion share repurchase authorization. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lincoln National's 2026 earnings of $7.97 implies a 3.2% decline from the year-ago period's level.
Lincoln National Q2 earnings beat estimates on higher investment gains and lower costs
Lincoln National Corporation reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $2.24, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 12%. Adjusted operating revenues grew 4.2% year over year to $4.93 billion, also beating estimates. The results were driven by higher net investment income, lower expenses, and improved profitability in the Life Insurance and Retirement Plan Services segments, though partly offset by lower sales in Annuities and Group Protection. Net income surged 90.6% to $1.3 billion, and the estimated RBC ratio remained above 420%.
Lincoln National in advanced talks for multibillion-dollar reinsurance deal with Talcott
Lincoln National is in advanced talks with Talcott Financial Group for a reinsurance deal that would move billions of dollars of life insurance reserves off its balance sheet, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. The transaction is expected to involve about $5 billion of universal life with secondary-guarantee policies, according to people familiar with the talks. Lincoln National told Bloomberg in an email that it routinely evaluates options that support its strategic objectives and will share information on any transaction decisions when it is able. Policyholders like policies with secondary guarantees because they do not lapse, but they can be expensive for insurers to retain on their balance sheets. Reinsurance deals allow carriers to offset that cost and unlock capital, which can be used to underwrite new annuities and life insurance policies.
Lincoln National to Issue $500 Million in Debt, Shares Drop 5%
Lincoln National Corporation announced it has entered into an underwriting agreement with major investment banks to issue $500 million in debt, with proceeds intended for corporate purposes and potential buyback of preferred shares. The news sent shares down 5% on June 24, adding to a year-to-date decline of 11.7%, though the stock remains up 16.6% over the past year. Earlier in the year, UBS raised its price target to $39 from $37 with a Neutral rating, while Morgan Stanley cut its target to $40 from $43 with an Overweight rating, both following the company's first-quarter earnings.
Lincoln National Stock Still Looks Undervalued As Returns Look Strong
Lincoln National stock has delivered a 65.7% return over the past three years, yet still screens as undervalued on several valuation checks. The company currently trades at about 4.3 times earnings, well below the Insurance industry average of roughly 12.4 times and a peer group average around 12.8 times. Simply Wall St's fair price-to-earnings model implies a ratio of about 13.0 times, suggesting a wide gap that may reflect a heavy market discount despite ongoing business transformation and capital discipline. Bull and bear cases on the platform diverge, with one camp seeing the stock as 32% undervalued and another as 12% overvalued, hinging on execution risks around digital initiatives and cost pressures. The key question remains whether Lincoln National can convert its changes into stable earnings quality that justifies a rerating.
Lincoln National Issues $500 Million Subordinated Notes Due 2056
Lincoln National Corporation completed a $500 million offering of fixed-to-fixed reset subordinated notes due 2056 in late June. AM Best assigned a 'bbb' Long-Term Issue Credit Rating with a stable outlook to these securities. The proceeds may be used to repurchase or redeem higher-cost preferred stock, reflecting the company's focus on recalibrating its capital structure and reducing long-term financing costs. The transaction is viewed as an incremental step in Lincoln National's broader shift toward a more capital-efficient product mix, with execution on product and capital rebalancing remaining the key catalyst.
AM Best Assigns Indicative Issue Credit Rating to Lincoln National Corporation’s Subordinated Notes
AM Best has assigned an indicative Long-Term Issue Credit Rating of "bbb" (Good) to subordinated notes from the recently filed shelf registration of Lincoln National Corporation, headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania. The outlook assigned to this Credit Rating is stable.
Life insurance stocks post mixed Q1 as Lincoln Financial misses revenue estimates
The life insurance industry reported a slower first quarter, with the 12 stocks tracked by StockStory beating revenue consensus by 3.1% on average. Lincoln Financial Group posted revenues of $4.87 billion, up 3.9% year-on-year but 1% below analyst expectations, alongside a narrow EPS beat and a significant miss on book value per share. Primerica was the quarter's best performer with revenues of $872.3 million, up 8.6% and 1.9% above estimates, while Brighthouse Financial was the weakest, with revenues of $2.10 billion down 2.7% and missing by 4.8%. Equitable Holdings reported revenues of $3.61 billion, down 4.5% and missing by 7.3%, the largest miss among peers, and MetLife posted revenues of $19.68 billion, up 4.5% and beating by 1.4%. Share prices across the group have been resilient, rising 6.3% on average since the latest earnings results.
Hedge Fund Manager Lee Robinson Bets Against Insurers Over Private Credit Risks
Hedge fund manager Lee Robinson, who scored a 900% gain during the 2008 financial crisis, is now shorting insurers including Lincoln National, MetLife, and Berkshire Hathaway using credit default swaps, betting that their growing exposure to the $1.8 trillion private credit market will lead to writedowns. Robinson’s firm Altana is launching a new fund to protect against what he sees as an inevitable downturn in private credit, a cooling of AI hype, and declining liquidity. Net notional bets on US insurers’ CDS have risen to $5.5 billion by May 22 from under $4.9 billion at the end of last year, with trading volumes increasing and the cost of default protection starting to rise. A Moody’s analysis showed that a fifth of US life insurers’ $4 trillion of fixed-income holdings were in illiquid assets, mostly private credit, at the end of 2025, up from 18% a year earlier. Robinson says the current low volatility and tight credit spreads remind him of the calm before the subprime crisis, warning that even one stressed insurer could cause industry-wide ripples.
Lincoln National Retained at Hold on Spread-Based Annuity Shift and Life Insurance Growth
Zacks Investment Research maintains a Hold rating on Lincoln National Corporation, citing its strategic shift toward spread-based annuity products and improving momentum in life insurance and group protection. The company's annuity sales rose 4% year over year to $3.9 billion in the first quarter of 2026, with spread-based products accounting for nearly two-thirds of total sales, while total life insurance sales climbed 33% to $129 million. Group Protection operating income increased 10.9% to $112 million, and holding company available liquidity reached $805 million as of March 31, 2026. However, Lincoln National's total debt-to-capital ratio of 38.4% remains significantly above the industry average of 15.2%, and its stock trades at 0.78 times trailing 12-month price-to-book, below the industry average of 2.17 times. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings is $7.72 per share on revenues of $19.5 billion, implying 2.2% top-line growth.
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