CluenexLincoln Financial LNC
Lincoln Financial scores average on business quality (5.2 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Lincoln Financial does
Lincoln National makes money by selling life insurance, annuities, retirement plans, and group protection to individuals and employers through financial professionals. The company recently closed a $6.3 billion reinsurance transaction with Talcott to reshape its risk profile and capital structure.
- What it does best
Lincoln generates strong returns on equity, posting an ROE of 22.0% that outpaces peers like UNM at 6.4%. This profitability stems from deep distribution relationships with financial advisors that take years to replicate.
- The main risk
Negative operating cash flow of -$1.3B pressures liquidity, forcing heavy reliance on balance sheet adjustments like the Talcott reinsurance deal to manage capital commitments without standard cash generation.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margins sit at 15.4% while net margins reach 11.1%, but negative operating cash flow shows that high accounting profits fail to convert into cash.
An established advisor network locks in distribution partners, reflected in a middle-of-the-pack moat score supported by a 22.0% ROE.
Revenue is shrinking at a 9.4% rate, landing in the bottom quartile of its sector with a 4th percentile rank as top-line momentum fades compared to prior years.
Debt-to-equity sits at 0.6 with interest coverage at 9.8x, but operating cash flow is negative $1.3B, creating a strained liquidity picture that requires careful capital management.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
2 sold $896K outside pre-planned sales.
Our sealed record on LNC
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Lincoln Financial scores average on the Cluenex quality check (5.2 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is fair, moat fair, growth slow and financial health strong.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 2 sold $896K outside pre-planned sales.
Nov 5, 2026, before the open.
See LNC today
- Today's verdict on LNC, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Lincoln Financial (LNC)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/lnc/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.