Linde (LIN) Competitors

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) and Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, community ranking, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in NTR or LIN?

Nutrien received 84 more outperform votes than Linde when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 63.77% of users gave Linde an outperform vote while only 62.22% of users gave Nutrien an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Nutrien	Outperform Votes 443 62.22%	Underperform Votes 269 37.78%
Linde	Outperform Votes 359 63.77%	Underperform Votes 204 36.23%

Does the media refer more to NTR or LIN?

In the previous week, Linde had 29 more articles in the media than Nutrien. MarketBeat recorded 44 mentions for Linde and 15 mentions for Nutrien. Nutrien's average media sentiment score of 1.18 beat Linde's score of 1.07 indicating that Nutrien is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Nutrien	10 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Linde	29 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in NTR or LIN?

63.1% of Nutrien shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.8% of Linde shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Nutrien shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Linde shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, NTR or LIN?

Nutrien has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Linde has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is NTR or LIN more profitable?

Linde has a net margin of 19.89% compared to Nutrien's net margin of 2.62%. Linde's return on equity of 18.71% beat Nutrien's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nutrien	2.62%	6.81%	3.23%
Linde	19.89%	18.71%	9.25%

Which has better earnings and valuation, NTR or LIN?

Linde has higher revenue and earnings than Nutrien. Linde is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nutrien, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nutrien	$25.97B	1.07	$1.26B	$1.37	41.36
Linde	$33.01B	6.51	$6.57B	$13.61	33.39

Is NTR or LIN a better dividend stock?

Nutrien pays an annual dividend of $2.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Linde pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nutrien pays out 159.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Linde pays out 44.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Do analysts recommend NTR or LIN?

Nutrien currently has a consensus price target of $59.27, suggesting a potential upside of 4.60%. Linde has a consensus price target of $498.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.60%. Given Linde's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Linde is more favorable than Nutrien.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nutrien	2 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Linde	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92

Summary

Linde beats Nutrien on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.