A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Lincoln National (LNC). Shares have added about 0.2% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Lincoln National due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.

Lincoln National Q2 Earnings Miss Estimates, Increase Y/Y

Lincoln National Corporation’s second-quarter 2018 earnings of $2.02 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.8%. However, the bottom line improved about 9.2% year over year, mainly led by solid performances across all segments, annuity sales and the recent acquisition of Liberty.

Operating revenues of $4.02 billion increased 12.4% year over year and also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.2%.

Insurance premium surged 45.4% year over year to $1165 million while fee income grew 5.5% to $1.47 billion.

Total expenses rose 17.3% to $3.57 billion year over year, mainly driven by higher benefits plus commission and other expenses.

Strong Segment Results

Operating income in the Annuities segment gained 10% year over year to $275 million. This was mainly driven by higher fee income generated from account value growth as well as lower expenditure.

Total annuity deposits soared 50% from the year-ago quarter to $3 billion, driven by growth in variable and fixed annuities.

Operating income in Retirement Plan Services increased 16% year over year to $43 million, banking on growth in fee income, recurring deposits and a lower tax rate. Total deposits piled up 12% from the prior-year quarter’s value to $2.2 billion owing to better first-year sales and recurring deposits.
Operating income in Life Insurance segment was up 13% year over year to $150 million as a result of lower tax rate and lower expenses. However, the same was partially offset by lower variable investment income.

Operating revenues inched up 1.5% year over year to $1.68 billion.
Operating income in Group Protection jumped 29% from the year-ago quarter’s figure to $45 million.  This upside was driven by the buyout of the Liberty Mutual Group benefits business. Operating revenues skyrocketed 73.2% year over year to $937 million.

Other Operations

The company incurred a loss of $59 million, wider than $37 million incurred in the prior-year quarter.

Financial Update

As of Jun 30, 2018, Lincoln National’s book value per share, excluding accumulated other comprehensive income, climbed 8% year over year to $64.32.