Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Receives $468.83 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $468.83.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho raised their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th.

Linde Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ LIN opened at $440.02 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $436.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $432.22. Linde has a one year low of $358.37 and a one year high of $477.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Linde will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the first quarter valued at $25,000. First Pacific Financial bought a new stake in Linde during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 49.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.