Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Upgraded by KeyCorp to Strong-Buy Rating

KeyCorp upgraded shares of Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday,Zacks reports. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Linde’s FY2026 earnings at $17.85 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $19.50 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $21.75 EPS.

LIN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $580.00 price objective on Linde in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Linde from $560.00 to $546.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Linde from $600.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $545.14.

Linde Stock Down 1.1%

LIN stock opened at $461.62 on Thursday. Linde has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $548.20. The company has a market capitalization of $212.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $497.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $501.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 20.09%. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.09 earnings per share. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-17.900 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Linde will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Linde by 76.8% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416 shares in the last quarter. Planning Project LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,711,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 74.2% in the 2nd quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Linde by 67,391.2% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 365,698,575 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $189,775,619,000 after purchasing an additional 365,156,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in Linde by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,577 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is a global industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related equipment and process technologies to customers across a range of industries. Its products include oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, specialty gases and medical gases.

The company serves customers in sectors including healthcare, manufacturing, food and beverage, electronics, chemicals, energy and metals. Linde also designs and builds industrial gas plants and provides engineering, project management and process technology services for industrial and energy applications.

Linde traces its history to 1879 and was formed in its current structure through the 2018 merger of Linde AG and Praxair, Inc The company operates internationally, serving customers in numerous countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia and other regions.