Steel Dynamics (STLD) Competitors

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) and Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, media sentiment and valuation.

Is LIN or STLD a better dividend stock?

Linde pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Steel Dynamics pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Linde pays out 42.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Steel Dynamics pays out 29.2% 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 increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Steel Dynamics has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Steel Dynamics is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is LIN or STLD more profitable?

Linde has a net margin of 20.20% compared to Steel Dynamics' net margin of 6.07%. Linde's return on equity of 19.09% beat Steel Dynamics' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Linde	20.20%	19.09%	9.19%
Steel Dynamics	6.07%	11.88%	6.71%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, LIN or STLD?

Linde has higher revenue and earnings than Steel Dynamics. Steel Dynamics 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	6.70	$6.57B	$14.06	33.55
Steel Dynamics	$17.54B	1.09	$1.54B	$6.86	18.89

Which has more volatility and risk, LIN or STLD?

Linde has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Steel Dynamics has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer LIN or STLD?

Linde currently has a consensus target price of $519.63, indicating a potential upside of 10.14%. Steel Dynamics has a consensus target price of $148.70, indicating a potential upside of 14.75%. Given Steel Dynamics' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Steel Dynamics is more favorable than Linde.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Linde	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Steel Dynamics	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Does the media prefer LIN or STLD?

In the previous week, Linde had 15 more articles in the media than Steel Dynamics. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Linde and 12 mentions for Steel Dynamics. Linde's average media sentiment score of 1.64 beat Steel Dynamics' score of 1.62 indicating that Linde is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Linde	27 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Steel Dynamics	11 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do institutionals and insiders believe in LIN or STLD?

82.8% of Linde shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.4% of Steel Dynamics shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Linde shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Steel Dynamics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Linde beats Steel Dynamics on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.