Linde (LIN) Competitors

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) and Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) are related large-cap companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, media sentiment, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Is LIN or AMP a better dividend stock?

Linde pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ameriprise Financial pays an annual dividend of $6.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde pays out 43.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameriprise Financial pays out 21.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Linde has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Ameriprise Financial has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years.

Is LIN or AMP more profitable?

Linde has a net margin of 20.02% compared to Ameriprise Financial's net margin of 17.14%. Ameriprise Financial's return on equity of 68.93% beat Linde's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Linde	20.02%	18.95%	9.26%
Ameriprise Financial	17.14%	68.93%	2.03%

Do analysts recommend LIN or AMP?

Linde presently has a consensus price target of $518.80, suggesting a potential upside of 10.66%. Ameriprise Financial has a consensus price target of $526.43, suggesting a potential downside of 1.82%. Given Linde's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Linde is more favorable than Ameriprise Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Linde	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Ameriprise Financial	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29

Does the media prefer LIN or AMP?

In the previous week, Linde had 17 more articles in the media than Ameriprise Financial. MarketBeat recorded 42 mentions for Linde and 25 mentions for Ameriprise Financial. Linde's average media sentiment score of 1.50 beat Ameriprise Financial's score of 1.30 indicating that Linde is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Linde	38 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameriprise Financial	20 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals believe in LIN or AMP?

82.8% of Linde shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of Ameriprise Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Linde shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Ameriprise Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, LIN or AMP?

Linde has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameriprise Financial has a beta of 1.23, meaning that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, LIN or AMP?

Linde has higher revenue and earnings than Ameriprise Financial. Ameriprise Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Linde, 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	$33.01B	6.69	$6.57B	$13.77	34.05
Ameriprise Financial	$17.26B	2.96	$3.40B	$29.43	18.22

Summary

Linde beats Ameriprise Financial on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.