Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Given Outperform Rating at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets restated their outperform rating on shares of Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $477.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $484.18.

Linde Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $478.25 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $447.57 and a 200-day moving average of $445.93. The company has a market capitalization of $229.88 billion, a PE ratio of 37.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.95. Linde has a 52-week low of $361.02 and a 52-week high of $479.79.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde will post 15.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,676,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,744,033,000 after acquiring an additional 405,952 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,796,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,434,406,000 after acquiring an additional 141,322 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $3,066,825,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,959,993 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,624,462,000 after acquiring an additional 138,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,449,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,513,551,000 after acquiring an additional 15,187 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Company Profile

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.