Linde (LIN) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer NTR or LIN?

Nutrien presently has a consensus price target of $62.12, indicating a potential upside of 6.97%. Linde has a consensus price target of $510.40, indicating a potential upside of 10.05%. Given Linde's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Linde is more favorable than Nutrien.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nutrien	2 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.39
Linde	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of NTR or LIN?

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

Is NTR or LIN more profitable?

Linde has a net margin of 20.02% compared to Nutrien's net margin of 2.05%. Linde's return on equity of 18.95% beat Nutrien's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nutrien	2.05%	6.08%	2.86%
Linde	20.02%	18.95%	9.26%

Which has more risk & volatility, NTR or LIN?

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

Which has better earnings and valuation, NTR or LIN?

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
Nutrien	$25.97B	1.09	$674M	$1.07	54.27
Linde	$33.01B	6.61	$6.57B	$13.77	33.68

Does the media favor NTR or LIN?

In the previous week, Linde had 24 more articles in the media than Nutrien. MarketBeat recorded 38 mentions for Linde and 14 mentions for Nutrien. Linde's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat Nutrien's score of 1.40 indicating that Linde is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Nutrien	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Linde	34 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NTR or LIN a better dividend stock?

Nutrien pays an annual dividend of $2.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Linde pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. 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 pays out 43.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nutrien has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years and Linde has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Nutrien is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Linde beats Nutrien on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.