Equities Analysts Issue Forecasts for Linde FY2027 Earnings

Key Points

• Erste Group Bank raised Linde’s FY2027 EPS forecast to $19.60 from $19.50, above the current consensus estimate of $17.89.
• Linde holds a consensus “Buy” rating from analysts, with an average price target of $548.67; recent targets range from $559 to $600.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations with $4.33 EPS and $8.78 billion in revenue, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, equivalent to a 1.3% yield.

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Erste Group Bank raised their FY2027 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Linde in a report released on Monday, July 27th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now forecasts that the basic materials company will post earnings of $19.60 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $19.50. The consensus estimate for Linde's current full-year earnings is $17.89 per share.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on LIN. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $559.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $548.67.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $511.17 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $516.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $495.91. The stock has a market cap of $236.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.94, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. Linde has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $548.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.95 earnings per share. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 42.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $3,246,750,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Linde by 42,539.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $56,361,000 after buying an additional 1,318,709 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,245,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,477 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Linde by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,680,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Linde by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,402,317 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,303,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,751 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Linde

Linde NASDAQ: LIN is a multinational industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related technologies and services to a wide range of industries. The company traces its current form to the 2018 combination of Germany's Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, creating one of the largest global providers of industrial, specialty and medical gases. Linde's business model centers on production, processing and distribution of gases as well as the design and construction of the plants and equipment needed to produce them.

Core products and services include atmospheric and process gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon; hydrogen and helium; carbon dioxide; and a portfolio of higher‑value specialty and electronic gases.

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