Contrasting Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) & Symrise (OTCMKTS:SYIEY)

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) and Symrise (OTCMKTS:SYIEY) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Linde and Symrise, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Linde	0	1	10	1	3.00
Symrise	0	3	3	0	2.50

Linde presently has a consensus price target of $543.27, indicating a potential upside of 6.30%. Given Linde’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Linde is more favorable than Symrise.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Linde and Symrise”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Linde	$34.66 billion	6.82	$6.90 billion	$15.06	33.94
Symrise	$5.58 billion	2.49	$281.99 million	N/A	N/A

Linde has higher revenue and earnings than Symrise.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

82.8% of Linde shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Linde shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Linde pays an annual dividend of $6.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Symrise pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Linde pays out 42.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Linde has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Linde is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Linde and Symrise’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Linde	20.44%	19.80%	9.17%
Symrise	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Linde has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Symrise has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Linde beats Symrise on 15 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company also designs and constructs turnkey process plants for third-party customers, as well as for the gas businesses in various locations, such as air separation, hydrogen, synthesis, olefin, and natural gas plants. It serves a range of industries, including healthcare, chemicals and energy, manufacturing, metals and mining, food and beverage, and electronics. The company was founded in 1879 and is based in Woking, the United Kingdom.

About Symrise

Symrise AG supplies fragrances, flavorings, cosmetic active ingredients and raw materials, and functional ingredients in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North America, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. It operates through two segments, Taste, Nutrition & Health; and Scent & Care. The Taste, Nutrition & Health segment provides functional ingredients and product solutions used in the production of food and beverages; savory flavors; natural and sustainable ingredients for food and beverage manufacturers, baby food, and dietary supplements; product solutions and services for pet food manufacturers; sustainable ingredients and services for fish feed manufacturers to develop solutions for fish and shrimp farms; and probiotics for food supplements and functional foods. The Scent & Care segment develops, produces, and sells fragrance ingredients and compositions, aroma molecules, cosmetic ingredients, and mint flavors, as well as specific application processes for such substances. This segment's products are used by manufacturers of perfumes, personal care and cosmetic products, cleaning products, detergents, air fresheners, and oral care products. Symrise AG was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in Holzminden, Germany.