Sifting through countless of stocks in the Insurance industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Unum Group or Lincoln National Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.
Read on to learn how Unum Group and Lincoln National Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.
About Unum Group and Lincoln National Corporation
Unum Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial protection benefit solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Poland. It operates through Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, and Closed Block segments. The company offers group long-term and short-term disability, group life, and accidental death and dismemberment products; supplemental and voluntary products, such as voluntary benefits, individual disability, and dental and vision products; and accident, sickness, disability, life, and cancer and critical illness products. It also provides group pensions, individual life and corporate-owned life insurance, reinsurance pools and management operations, and other miscellaneous products. The company sells its products to employers for the benefit of employees. It sells its products through field sales personnel, independent brokers, consultants, and independent contractor agent sales force and brokers. Unum Group was formerly known as UnumProvident Corporation and changed its name to Unum Group in March 2007. The company was founded in 1848 and is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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 Life Insurance segment provides life insurance products, including term insurance, universal life insurance (UL), indexed universal life insurance, variable universal life insurance (VUL), linked-benefit UL and VUL products, and critical illness and long-term care riders. Its Annuities segment offers variable, fixed, and registered index-linked annuities. The Group Protection segment offers group nonmedical insurance products consisting of short and long-term disability and administration services, statutory disability; paid family medical leave administration and absence management services; term life; life; supplemental health insurance; accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity benefits and dental and vision products to the employer marketplace through various forms of employee-paid and employer-paid plans. Its Retirement Plan Services segment provides employers with retirement plan products and services primarily in the defined contribution retirement plan marketplace; individual and group variable annuities, group fixed annuities, and mutual fund-based programs; and various plan services, including plan recordkeeping, compliance testing, participant education, and trust and custodial services. It distributes its products through consultants, brokers, planners, agents, financial advisors, third-party administrators, financial institutions, and other intermediaries. Lincoln National Corporation was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania.
Latest Insurance and Unum Group, Lincoln National Corporation Stock News
As of June 11, 2026, Unum Group had a $14.7 billion market capitalization, compared to the Insurance median of $5.5 million. Unum Group’s stock is NA in 2026, NA in the previous five trading days and up 16.38% in the past year.
Currently, Unum Group’s price-earnings ratio is 19.9. Unum Group’s trailing 12-month revenue is $13.3 billion with a 5.9% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 8.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $8.774 per share for the current fiscal year. Unum Group currently has a 2.0% dividend yield.
Currently, Lincoln National Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 4.3. Lincoln National Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $18.8 billion with a 9.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 12.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $7.729 per share for the current fiscal year. Lincoln National Corporation currently has a 4.9% dividend yield.
How We Compare Unum Group and Lincoln National Corporation Stock Grades
Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.
AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Unum Group and Lincoln National Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.
Learn more about A+ Investor here!
Sign Up to Receive a Free Special Report Showing How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Smarter Investment Decisions
Unum Group and Lincoln National Corporation’s Quality Grades
| Company | Ticker | Quality |
| Unum Group | UNM | C |
| Lincoln National Corporation | LNC | F |
Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.
The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.
The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.
Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.
Unum Group has a Quality Score of 50, which is Average.
Lincoln National Corporation has a Quality Score of 17, which is Very Weak.
The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner
Neither Unum Group or Lincoln National Corporation has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Unum Group or Lincoln National Corporation is the better investment when it comes to quality.
Unum Group and Lincoln National Corporation’s Momentum Grades
| Company | Ticker | Momentum |
| Unum Group | UNM | B |
| Lincoln National Corporation | LNC | C |
Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.
Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.
Unum Group has a Momentum Score of 65, which is Strong.
Lincoln National Corporation has a Momentum Score of 54, which is Average.
The Momentum Grade Winner: Unum Group
As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Unum Group is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Lincoln National Corporation. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, Unum Group could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.
Unum Group and Lincoln National Corporation’s Estimate Revisions Grades
| Company | Ticker | Earnings Estimate |
| Unum Group | UNM | C |
| Lincoln National Corporation | LNC | C |
Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).
Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.
Unum Group has a Earnings Estimate Score of 45, which is Neutral.
Lincoln National Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 57, which is Neutral.
The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner
Neither Unum Group or Lincoln National Corporation has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Unum Group or Lincoln National Corporation is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.
Don’t Forget Your Free Special Report on How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Investment Decisions
Other Unum Group and Lincoln National Corporation Grades
In addition to Estimate Revisions, Momentum and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Growth.
Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.
Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.
These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Unum Group and Lincoln National Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.
So, Which Is the Better Investment, Unum Group or Lincoln National Corporation Stock?
Overall, Unum Group stock has a Momentum Score of 65, Estimate Revisions Score of 45 and Quality Score of 50.
Lincoln National Corporation stock has a Momentum Score of 54, Estimate Revisions Score of 57 and Quality Score of 17.
Comparing Unum Group and Lincoln National Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.
Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.
A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.
AAII Disclaimer
We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.
Included With AAII Platinum
Screen: 23.7%
Annual Gain Since Inception. Data as of 12/31/2024.
769.3% Stock Superstars Portfolio Total Return Since Inception
U.S. Index ETF (IYY)
SSR Group 3 O'Shaughnessy portfolio has a 411.2% gain since inception performance compared to IYY at only 119.1%% Performance as of 11/29/24.
FREE REPORT
BECOME A MEMBER FOR ONLY $2
Get access to powerful investment discovery tools and a wealth of investment education to help you achieve your financial goals.