LNC vs PRU Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Lincoln National and Prudential are both major U.S. life insurers with annuity and retirement product lines, but Prudential operates at larger scale with a substantial international business and a proprietary asset management arm, while Lincoln National is more domestically concentrated and has focused on balance sheet risk reduction.
Lincoln National offers a more domestically focused annuity and group benefits recovery story tied to balance sheet risk reduction, while Prudential offers global diversification across insurance, retirement, and asset management. Consider whether you prefer Lincoln National's turnaround profile or Prudential's diversified global scale.
PRU holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. PRU has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+15.61% vs +2.28%), though LNC has the better forward P/E setup (4.99x vs 8.06x for PRU). PRU leads on both revenue growth (14.10%) and operating margin (7.52%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for LNC (+10.69%) than for PRU (-5.33%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to a U.S.-focused annuity and group protection franchise
- Believe ongoing balance sheet risk reduction will support more stable capital generation
- Value exposure to long-term U.S. retirement savings demand
- Are comfortable with legacy variable annuity block risk requiring active management
- Want exposure to a diversified global insurance, retirement, and asset management franchise
- Believe international life insurance exposure provides useful geographic diversification
- Value the PGIM asset management arm as a complementary fee-based revenue stream
- Are comfortable with currency translation and international regulatory risk
| Metric | LNC | PRU |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 27.1 | 40.3 |
| AI ranki | #2391 | #1073 |
| Latest closei | $41.69 | $119.45 |
| 1M returni | -3.76% | -0.66% |
| 6M returni | +21.97% | +28.04% |
| 1Y returni | +2.28% | +15.61% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | LNC | PRU |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.37K (+3.7%) started 2025-09-25 | $11.64K (+16.4%) started 2025-09-25 |
| 5Y ago | $5.8K (-42.0%) started 2021-09-27 | $16.09K (+60.9%) started 2021-09-27 |
| 10Y ago | $9.16K (-8.4%) started 2016-09-26 | $35.39K (+253.9%) started 2016-09-26 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | LNC | PRU |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $8.29B | $41.33B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 3.65 | 10.86 |
| Forward P/Ei | 4.99 | 8.06 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 0.62 |
| EV/Revenuei | -1.50 | 0.95 |
| Analyst targeti | $47.92 | $113.40 |
| Target upsidei | +10.69% | -5.33% |
| Metric | LNC | PRU |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 12.60% | 14.10% |
| Earnings growthi | 76.80% | 89.20% |
| EPS growthi | +76.80% | +89.20% |
| FCF margini | +10.67% | +11.54% |
| Operating margini | 4.61% | 7.52% |
| Profit margini | 12.17% | 6.01% |
| ROIC proxyi | 22.59% | 12.01% |
| Return on equityi | 22.59% | 12.01% |
| Dividend yieldi | 4.16% | 4.65% |
| Payout ratioi | 15.16% | 49.86% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.13 | 0.83 |
| Debt/equityi | 63.80 | 163.89 |
| Current ratioi | 2.18 | 0.78 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.15 | 0.68 |
Over the past year, LNC and PRU have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.63), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | LNC | PRU |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +3.73% | +16.40% |
| CAGRi | +3.74% | +16.43% | |
| Volatilityi | 34.11% | 22.56% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.15 | 0.59 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.20 | 0.79 | |
| Max drawdowni | 29.85% | 22.51% | |
| Current drawdowni | 11.30% | 4.54% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.49% | 7.71% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 15.56% | 10.41% | |
| Max daily dropi | 10.55% | 5.99% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 14.29% | 9.15% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -42.01% | +34.05% |
| CAGRi | -10.34% | +6.04% | |
| Volatilityi | 42.88% | 25.50% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.14 | 0.18 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.18 | 0.25 | |
| Max drawdowni | 74.90% | 33.11% | |
| Current drawdowni | 45.24% | 5.46% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 48.94% | 12.38% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 52.16% | 14.73% | |
| Max daily dropi | 33.15% | 9.98% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 38.26% | 16.62% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | -8.41% | +122.77% |
| CAGRi | -0.88% | +8.34% | |
| Volatilityi | 46.67% | 31.65% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.12 | 0.27 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.17 | 0.38 | |
| Max drawdowni | 80.14% | 65.89% | |
| Current drawdowni | 51.47% | 5.46% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 40.25% | 15.29% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 46.12% | 19.42% | |
| Max daily dropi | 33.15% | 20.11% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 43.24% | 35.91% |
| Category | LNC | PRU |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Lincoln National Corporation | Prudential Financial, Inc. |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Industry | Insurance - Life | Insurance - Life |
| Core business | A financial services holding company providing annuities, life insurance, and group protection products, primarily serving the U.S. retirement and workplace benefits markets. | A global financial services company providing life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions, and asset management services to individual and institutional clients in the United States and internationally. |
| Investor focus | Annuity sales trends, progress on balance sheet risk reduction efforts, and capital generation supporting dividend and buyback capacity. | U.S. retirement and insurance segment growth, international life insurance business performance, and capital return through dividends and buybacks. |
- Annuity business provides exposure to long-term retirement savings demand as the population ages
- Group protection segment adds a complementary employer-sponsored benefits revenue stream
- Ongoing risk reduction initiatives have aimed to strengthen the balance sheet and lower capital volatility
- Diversified global business spans U.S. insurance, international operations, and asset management
- International life insurance exposure, particularly in Japan, provides geographic diversification
- PGIM asset management arm provides a fee-based revenue stream complementing its insurance operations
- Annuity and life insurance results can be sensitive to interest rate and equity market conditions
- Legacy variable annuity blocks carry embedded market risk that requires active management
- Faces competition from other large life insurers and asset managers in the retirement savings market
- International business exposure introduces currency translation and regional regulatory risk
- Annuity and life insurance results can be sensitive to interest rate and equity market conditions
- Faces competition from other large global life insurers and asset managers
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