Sherwin-Williams (SHW) Competitors

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) and Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) 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 risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Is SHW or LIN 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
Sherwin-Williams	11.03%	66.91%	11.48%
Linde	20.20%	19.09%	9.19%

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

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

Does the media favor SHW or LIN?

In the previous week, Linde had 2 more articles in the media than Sherwin-Williams. MarketBeat recorded 29 mentions for Linde and 27 mentions for Sherwin-Williams. Linde's average media sentiment score of 1.64 beat Sherwin-Williams' score of 1.45 indicating that Linde is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Sherwin-Williams	23 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Linde	28 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has better valuation & earnings, SHW or LIN?

Linde has higher revenue and earnings than Sherwin-Williams. Linde is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sherwin-Williams, 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
Sherwin-Williams	$23.10B	4.02	$2.68B	$10.08	36.94
Linde	$33.01B	6.67	$6.57B	$14.06	33.39

Is SHW or LIN a better dividend stock?

Sherwin-Williams pays an annual dividend of $3.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Linde pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Sherwin-Williams pays out 31.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Linde pays out 42.7% 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. Sherwin-Williams has increased its dividend for 48 consecutive years and Linde has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend SHW or LIN?

Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus target price of $387.27, suggesting a potential upside of 3.99%. Linde has a consensus target price of $519.63, suggesting a potential upside of 10.67%. Given Linde's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Linde is more favorable than Sherwin-Williams.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sherwin-Williams	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71
Linde	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more risk & volatility, SHW or LIN?

Sherwin-Williams has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Linde has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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