Sherwin-Williams (SHW) Competitors

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

Do analysts recommend LIN or SHW?

Linde currently has a consensus price target of $520.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.55%. Sherwin-Williams has a consensus price target of $387.93, indicating a potential upside of 15.28%. Given Sherwin-Williams' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Sherwin-Williams 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)	8 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Sherwin-Williams	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.76

Does the media favor LIN or SHW?

In the previous week, Linde had 9 more articles in the media than Sherwin-Williams. MarketBeat recorded 35 mentions for Linde and 26 mentions for Sherwin-Williams. Linde's average media sentiment score of 1.55 beat Sherwin-Williams' score of 1.35 indicating that Linde is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Linde	31 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Sherwin-Williams	21 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

82.8% of Linde shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.7% of Sherwin-Williams shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Linde shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Sherwin-Williams shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better earnings and valuation, LIN or SHW?

Linde has higher revenue and earnings than Sherwin-Williams. Sherwin-Williams 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	6.68	$6.57B	$14.06	33.45
Sherwin-Williams	$23.10B	3.63	$2.68B	$10.08	33.38

Which has more risk and volatility, LIN or SHW?

Linde has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sherwin-Williams has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is LIN or SHW a better dividend stock?

Linde pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Sherwin-Williams pays an annual dividend of $3.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Linde pays out 42.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sherwin-Williams pays out 31.3% 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 Sherwin-Williams has raised its dividend for 48 consecutive years.

Is LIN or SHW more profitable?

Linde has a net margin of 20.20% compared to Sherwin-Williams' net margin of 11.03%. Sherwin-Williams' return on equity of 66.91% beat Linde's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Linde	20.20%	19.09%	9.19%
Sherwin-Williams	11.03%	66.91%	11.48%

Summary

Linde beats Sherwin-Williams on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.