American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD – Get Free Report) and Linde (NASDAQ:LIN – Get Free Report) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares American Vanguard and Linde”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| American Vanguard | $547.31 million | 0.28 | -$126.34 million | ($4.47) | -1.19 |
| Linde | $33.01 billion | 6.41 | $6.57 billion | $14.06 | 32.11 |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
79.0% of American Vanguard shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.8% of Linde shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of American Vanguard shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Linde shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings for American Vanguard and Linde, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| American Vanguard | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Linde | 0 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3.00 |
American Vanguard presently has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 125.78%. Linde has a consensus target price of $520.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.19%. Given American Vanguard’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe American Vanguard is more favorable than Linde.
Volatility & Risk
American Vanguard has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Linde has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares American Vanguard and Linde’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| American Vanguard | -23.72% | -26.21% | -9.97% |
| Linde | 20.20% | 19.09% | 9.19% |
Summary
Linde beats American Vanguard on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About American Vanguard
American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection. The company also markets, sells, and distributes end-use chemical and biological products for crop applications; and distributes chemicals for turf and ornamental markets. It distributes its products through national distribution companies, and buying groups or co-operatives; and through sales offices, sales force executives, sales agents, and wholly owned distributors. American Vanguard Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.
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. The company also designs and constructs turnkey process plants for third-party customers, as well as for the gas businesses in various locations, such as air separation, hydrogen, synthesis, olefin, and natural gas plants. It serves a range of industries, including healthcare, chemicals and energy, manufacturing, metals and mining, food and beverage, and electronics. The company was founded in 1879 and is based in Woking, the United Kingdom.
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