Air Products and Chemicals (APD) Competitors

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

Do analysts recommend APD or LIN?

Air Products and Chemicals presently has a consensus price target of $330.38, indicating a potential upside of 23.18%. Linde has a consensus price target of $503.11, indicating a potential upside of 10.23%. Given Air Products and Chemicals' higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Air Products and Chemicals is more favorable than Linde.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Air Products and Chemicals	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65
Linde	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92

Is APD or LIN a better dividend stock?

Air Products and Chemicals pays an annual dividend of $7.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Linde pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Air Products and Chemicals pays out 104.1% 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 43.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Air Products and Chemicals has raised its dividend for 50 consecutive years and Linde has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Air Products and Chemicals is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of APD or LIN?

81.7% of Air Products and Chemicals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.8% of Linde shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Air Products and Chemicals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Linde shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer APD or LIN?

In the previous week, Linde had 16 more articles in the media than Air Products and Chemicals. MarketBeat recorded 43 mentions for Linde and 27 mentions for Air Products and Chemicals. Air Products and Chemicals' average media sentiment score of 1.50 beat Linde's score of 1.11 indicating that Air Products and Chemicals is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Air Products and Chemicals	21 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Linde	34 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community favor APD or LIN?

Air Products and Chemicals received 297 more outperform votes than Linde when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.69% of users gave Air Products and Chemicals an outperform vote while only 63.77% of users gave Linde an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Air Products and Chemicals	Outperform Votes 656 64.69%	Underperform Votes 358 35.31%
Linde	Outperform Votes 359 63.77%	Underperform Votes 204 36.23%

Which has more volatility & risk, APD or LIN?

Air Products and Chemicals has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Linde has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, APD or LIN?

Linde has higher revenue and earnings than Air Products and Chemicals. Linde is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Air Products and Chemicals, 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
Air Products and Chemicals	$12.02B	4.97	$3.83B	$6.88	38.98
Linde	$33.02B	6.51	$6.57B	$13.77	33.15

Is APD or LIN more profitable?

Air Products and Chemicals has a net margin of 31.88% compared to Linde's net margin of 19.89%. Linde's return on equity of 18.71% beat Air Products and Chemicals' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Air Products and Chemicals	31.88%	15.78%	7.29%
Linde	19.89%	18.71%	9.25%

Summary

Linde beats Air Products and Chemicals on 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.