Koppers (KOP) Competitors

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) and Koppers (NYSE:KOP) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, media sentiment, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Which has more risk and volatility, LIN or KOP?

Linde has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Koppers has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend LIN or KOP?

Linde currently has a consensus target price of $519.63, indicating a potential upside of 7.80%. Koppers has a consensus target price of $52.50, indicating a potential upside of 82.55%. Given Koppers' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Koppers 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
Koppers	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Which has higher valuation and earnings, LIN or KOP?

Linde has higher revenue and earnings than Koppers. Linde is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Koppers, 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	$33.25B	6.80	$6.57B	$14.06	34.28
Koppers	$1.99B	0.28	$52.40M	$0.72	39.94

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

82.8% of Linde shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.8% of Koppers shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Linde shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.9% of Koppers shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is LIN or KOP a better dividend stock?

Linde pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Koppers pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Linde pays out 42.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Koppers pays out 44.4% 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 Koppers has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Linde is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor LIN or KOP?

In the previous week, Linde had 33 more articles in the media than Koppers. MarketBeat recorded 39 mentions for Linde and 6 mentions for Koppers. Linde's average media sentiment score of 1.62 beat Koppers' score of 0.71 indicating that Linde is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Linde	36 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Koppers	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is LIN or KOP more profitable?

Linde has a net margin of 20.20% compared to Koppers' net margin of 0.76%. Linde's return on equity of 19.09% beat Koppers' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Linde	20.20%	19.09%	9.19%
Koppers	0.76%	17.43%	4.65%

Summary

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