FY2027 EPS Estimates for Linde Boosted by Erste Group Bank

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) – Investment analysts at Erste Group Bank increased their FY2027 EPS estimates for shares of Linde in a report released on Thursday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now forecasts that the basic materials company will post earnings of $19.48 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $19.45. Erste Group Bank has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Linde’s current full-year earnings is $16.54 per share.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.20.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $494.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.19 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $485.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $452.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Linde has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.97 EPS. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 43.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 195.2% in the 3rd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Company Profile

Linde (NASDAQ: LIN) is a multinational industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related technologies and services to a wide range of industries. The company traces its current form to the 2018 combination of Germany’s Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, creating one of the largest global providers of industrial, specialty and medical gases. Linde’s business model centers on production, processing and distribution of gases as well as the design and construction of the plants and equipment needed to produce them.

Core products and services include atmospheric and process gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon; hydrogen and helium; carbon dioxide; and a portfolio of higher‑value specialty and electronic gases.