Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Issues Q2 2024 Earnings Guidance

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) issued an update on its second quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 3.700-3.800 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 3.600. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Linde also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 15.300-15.600 EPS.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded up $3.98 on Friday, reaching $423.60. 2,656,083 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,234,159. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $455.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $422.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.62, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. Linde has a twelve month low of $350.60 and a twelve month high of $477.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Linde will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group downgraded Linde from a buy rating to a neutral rating and upped their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup lowered shares of Linde from a buy rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $460.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total transaction of $3,837,704.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at $26,058,131.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.