Comparing Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) & Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE)

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) and Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

82.8% of Linde shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Linde shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Green Plains shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Linde and Green Plains’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Linde	20.30%	19.52%	9.10%
Green Plains	-5.80%	-8.70%	-4.21%

Volatility and Risk

Linde has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Green Plains has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Linde and Green Plains, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Linde	0	1	9	2	3.08
Green Plains	2	4	3	0	2.11

Linde presently has a consensus price target of $515.20, indicating a potential upside of 4.31%. Green Plains has a consensus price target of $13.14, indicating a potential downside of 16.87%. Given Linde’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Linde is more favorable than Green Plains.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Linde and Green Plains”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Linde	$33.99 billion	6.73	$6.90 billion	$14.59	33.85
Green Plains	$2.09 billion	0.53	-$121.28 million	($1.89)	-8.37

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

Summary

Linde beats Green Plains on 13 of the 15 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 Green Plains

Green Plains Inc. produces low-carbon fuels in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, and Partnership. The Ethanol Production segment produces ethanol, distillers grains, and ultra-high protein and renewable corn oil. The Agribusiness and Energy Services segment engages in the grain procurement, handling and storage, commodity marketing business; and trading of ethanol, distiller grains, renewable corn oil, grain, natural gas, and other commodities in various markets. This segment also provides grain drying and storage services to grain producers. The Partnership segment offers fuel storage and transportation services. It operates 24 ethanol storage facilities; two fuel terminal facilities; and a fleet of approximately 2,180 leased railcars. The company was formerly known as Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. and changed its name to Green Plains Inc. in May 2014. Green Plains Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.