Sherwin-Williams (SHW) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, LIN or SHW?

Linde has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sherwin-Williams has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is LIN or SHW more profitable?

Linde has a net margin of 20.02% compared to Sherwin-Williams' net margin of 11.03%. Sherwin-Williams' return on equity of 66.91% beat Linde's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Linde	20.02%	18.95%	9.26%
Sherwin-Williams	11.03%	66.91%	11.48%

Which has better valuation and earnings, LIN or SHW?

Linde has higher revenue and earnings than Sherwin-Williams. Sherwin-Williams 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	$33.02B	6.72	$6.57B	$13.77	34.24
Sherwin-Williams	$23.10B	3.69	$2.68B	$10.58	32.17

Does the media prefer LIN or SHW?

In the previous week, Sherwin-Williams had 22 more articles in the media than Linde. MarketBeat recorded 69 mentions for Sherwin-Williams and 47 mentions for Linde. Linde's average media sentiment score of 1.30 beat Sherwin-Williams' score of 0.10 indicating that Linde is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Linde	40 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Sherwin-Williams	21 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	13 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in LIN or SHW?

82.8% of Linde shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.7% of Sherwin-Williams shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Linde shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Sherwin-Williams 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.

Is LIN or SHW a better dividend stock?

Linde pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Sherwin-Williams pays an annual dividend of $3.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Linde pays out 43.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sherwin-Williams pays out 29.9% 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. Linde has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Sherwin-Williams has increased its dividend for 48 consecutive years.

Do analysts prefer LIN or SHW?

Linde presently has a consensus target price of $518.80, suggesting a potential upside of 10.03%. Sherwin-Williams has a consensus target price of $383.33, suggesting a potential upside of 12.62%. Given Sherwin-Williams' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sherwin-Williams is more favorable than Linde.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Linde	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Sherwin-Williams	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65

Summary

Linde beats Sherwin-Williams on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.