Linde plc to Post Q2 2024 Earnings of $3.87 Per Share, Seaport Res Ptn Forecasts (NASDAQ:LIN)

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) – Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn decreased their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Linde in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, April 17th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now forecasts that the basic materials company will earn $3.87 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $3.88. Seaport Res Ptn has a “Neutral” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Linde’s current full-year earnings is $15.58 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Linde’s Q4 2024 earnings at $3.97 EPS.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.16 earnings per share.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $456.79.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $446.43 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Linde has a twelve month low of $350.60 and a twelve month high of $477.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $453.35 and a 200-day moving average of $417.76.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at $26,271,882.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. TradeLink Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth approximately $2,523,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,996 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in shares of Linde by 15.3% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the first quarter valued at about $6,682,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Linde

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.