Comparing Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) and Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP)

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) and Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Linde pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Westlake Chemical Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.4%. Linde pays out 42.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Westlake Chemical Partners pays out 126.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Linde has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Linde and Westlake Chemical Partners”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Linde	$33.25 billion	6.35	$6.57 billion	$14.06	32.01
Westlake Chemical Partners	$1.10 billion	0.64	$62.39 million	$1.49	13.37

Linde has higher revenue and earnings than Westlake Chemical Partners. Westlake Chemical Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Linde, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Linde and Westlake Chemical Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Linde	20.20%	19.09%	9.19%
Westlake Chemical Partners	4.78%	6.38%	4.00%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

82.8% of Linde shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.3% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Linde shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Linde has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westlake Chemical Partners has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Linde and Westlake Chemical Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Linde	0	2	8	2	3.00
Westlake Chemical Partners	0	2	0	0	2.00

Linde presently has a consensus price target of $520.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.54%. Given Linde’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Linde is more favorable than Westlake Chemical Partners.

Summary

Linde beats Westlake Chemical Partners on 16 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Westlake Chemical Partners

Westlake Chemical Partners LP acquires, develops, and operates ethylene production facilities and related assets in the United States. The company’s ethylene production facilities primarily convert ethane into ethylene. It also sells ethylene co-products, such as propylene, crude butadiene, pyrolysis gasoline, and hydrogen directly to third parties on either a spot or contract basis. Westlake Chemical Partners GP LLC serves as the general partner of the company. Westlake Chemical Partners LP was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.