Linde (LIN) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, LIN or NTR?

Linde has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nutrien has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is LIN or NTR 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
Linde	19.89%	18.71%	9.25%
Nutrien	2.62%	6.81%	3.23%

Does the media prefer LIN or NTR?

In the previous week, Linde had 30 more articles in the media than Nutrien. MarketBeat recorded 34 mentions for Linde and 4 mentions for Nutrien. Linde's average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Nutrien's score of 1.14 indicating that Linde is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Linde	31 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Nutrien	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in LIN or NTR?

82.8% of Linde shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.1% of Nutrien shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Linde shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Nutrien shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, LIN or NTR?

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
Linde	$33.02B	6.78	$6.57B	$13.77	34.54
Nutrien	$25.68B	1.14	$1.26B	$1.07	55.94

Do analysts rate LIN or NTR?

Linde presently has a consensus price target of $503.11, indicating a potential upside of 5.79%. Nutrien has a consensus price target of $61.44, indicating a potential upside of 2.64%. 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
Linde	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92
Nutrien	2 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.47

Is LIN or NTR a better dividend stock?

Linde pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nutrien pays an annual dividend of $2.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Linde pays out 43.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nutrien pays out 203.7% 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 has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Nutrien has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Nutrien is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer LIN or NTR?

Nutrien received 88 more outperform votes than Linde when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 63.77% of users gave Linde an outperform vote while only 61.91% of users gave Nutrien an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Linde	Outperform Votes 359 63.77%	Underperform Votes 204 36.23%
Nutrien	Outperform Votes 447 61.91%	Underperform Votes 275 38.09%

Summary

Linde beats Nutrien on 16 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.