Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $457.31 on Friday. Linde has a 12 month low of $385.12 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.37 billion, a PE ratio of 34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $472.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $451.86.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.