Air Products and Chemicals (APD) Competitors

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) and Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, community ranking, earnings and dividends.

Which has more risk & volatility, LIN or APD?

Linde has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air Products and Chemicals has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is LIN or APD more profitable?

Air Products and Chemicals has a net margin of 31.88% compared to Linde's net margin of 19.89%. Linde's return on equity of 18.71% beat Air Products and Chemicals' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Linde	19.89%	18.71%	9.25%
Air Products and Chemicals	31.88%	15.78%	7.29%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in LIN or APD?

82.8% of Linde shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.7% of Air Products and Chemicals shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Linde shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Air Products and Chemicals shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, LIN or APD?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Linde	$33.01B	6.61	$6.57B	$13.61	33.65
Air Products and Chemicals	$12.10B	5.70	$3.83B	$17.22	18.00

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in LIN or APD?

Air Products and Chemicals received 293 more outperform votes than Linde when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.51% of users gave Air Products and Chemicals an outperform vote while only 63.69% of users gave Linde an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Linde	Outperform Votes 356 63.69%	Underperform Votes 203 36.31%
Air Products and Chemicals	Outperform Votes 649 64.51%	Underperform Votes 357 35.49%

Is LIN or APD a better dividend stock?

Linde pays an annual dividend of $5.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Air Products and Chemicals pays an annual dividend of $7.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Linde pays out 40.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Air Products and Chemicals pays out 41.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Air Products and Chemicals has increased its dividend for 50 consecutive years. Air Products and Chemicals is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts recommend LIN or APD?

Linde presently has a consensus target price of $501.82, suggesting a potential upside of 9.57%. Air Products and Chemicals has a consensus target price of $339.94, suggesting a potential upside of 9.65%. Given Air Products and Chemicals' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Air Products and Chemicals is more favorable than Linde.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Linde	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.69
Air Products and Chemicals	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.70

Does the media prefer LIN or APD?

In the previous week, Linde had 5 more articles in the media than Air Products and Chemicals. MarketBeat recorded 48 mentions for Linde and 43 mentions for Air Products and Chemicals. Air Products and Chemicals' average media sentiment score of 1.34 beat Linde's score of 1.31 indicating that Air Products and Chemicals is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Linde	41 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Air Products and Chemicals	36 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Linde and Air Products and Chemicals tied by winning 11 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.