Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Increases Dividend to $1.50 Per Share

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of 1.50 per share by the basic materials company on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39.

Linde has raised its dividend by an average of 37.9% annually over the last three years. Linde has a payout ratio of 30.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Linde to earn $18.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.9%.

Linde Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $461.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $219.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $439.02 and its 200 day moving average is $454.75. Linde has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Research analysts anticipate that Linde will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

About Linde

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.