Linde Stock Hands $44 Bil Back – Worth a Look?
In the last decade, Linde (LIN) stock has returned $44 Bil back to its shareholders through cold, hard cash via dividends and buybacks. Let’s look at some numbers and compare how this payout power stacks up against the market’s biggest capital-return machines.
As it turns out, LIN stock has returned the 63rd highest amount to shareholders in history.
| LIN | S&P Median | |
|---|---|---|
| Dividends | $17 Bil | $4.5 Bil |
| Share Repurchase | $27 Bil | $5.7 Bil |
| Total Returned | $44 Bil | $9.4 Bil |
| Total Returned as % of Current Market Cap | 22.3% | 25.4% |
Why should you care? Because dividends and share repurchases represent direct, tangible returns of capital to shareholders. They also signal management’s confidence in the company’s financial health and ability to generate sustainable cash flows. And there are more stocks like that. Here is a list of the top 10 companies ranked by total capital returned to shareholders via dividends and stock repurchases.
Top 10 Stocks By Total Shareholder Return
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| Total Money Returned | As % Of Current Market Cap | via Dividends | via Share Repurchases | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | $847 Bil | 20.7% | $141 Bil | $706 Bil |
| MSFT | $368 Bil | 10.4% | $169 Bil | $200 Bil |
| GOOGL | $357 Bil | 9.6% | $15 Bil | $342 Bil |
| XOM | $212 Bil | 41.6% | $145 Bil | $67 Bil |
| WFC | $212 Bil | 71.6% | $58 Bil | $153 Bil |
| META | $183 Bil | 11.2% | $9.1 Bil | $174 Bil |
| JPM | $181 Bil | 20.5% | $0.0 | $181 Bil |
| ORCL | $161 Bil | 30.7% | $34 Bil | $126 Bil |
| CVX | $157 Bil | 53.9% | $99 Bil | $58 Bil |
| JNJ | $157 Bil | 30.4% | $104 Bil | $52 Bil |
For full ranking, visit Buybacks & Dividends Ranking
What do you notice here? The total capital returned to shareholders as a % of the current market cap appears inversely proportional to growth prospects for reinvestments. Stocks like Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) are growing much faster, in a more predictable way, compared to the others, but they have returned a much lower fraction of their market cap to shareholders.
That’s the flip side to high capital returns. Sure, they are attractive, but you have to ask yourself the question: Am I sacrificing growth and sound fundamentals? With that in mind, let’s look at some numbers for LIN. (see Buy or Sell Linde Stock for more details)
Linde Fundamentals
- Revenue Growth: 1.3% LTM and 0.6% last 3-year average.
- Cash Generation: Nearly 15.2% free cash flow margin and 26.9% operating margin LTM.
- Recent Revenue Shocks: The minimum annual revenue growth in the last 3 years for LIN was -0.8%.
- Valuation: Linde stock trades at a P/E multiple of 33.3
| LIN | S&P Median | |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Materials | – |
| Industry | Industrial Gases | – |
| PE Ratio | 33.3 | 23.5 |
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| LTM* Revenue Growth | 1.3% | 6.0% |
| 3Y Average Annual Revenue Growth | 0.6% | 5.4% |
| Min Annual Revenue Growth Last 3Y | -0.8% | 0.1% |
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| LTM* Operating Margin | 26.9% | 18.8% |
| 3Y Average Operating Margin | 24.8% | 18.3% |
| LTM* Free Cash Flow Margin | 15.2% | 13.4% |
*LTM: Last Twelve Months
The table gives good overview of what you get from LIN stock, but what about the risk?
LIN Historical Risk
LIN isn’t immune to big drops. It fell about 45% in the Dot-Com crash and over 50% in the Global Financial Crisis. The 2018 correction barely spared it, with a 14% dip, while Covid wiped out around 33%. Even the recent inflation shock pushed it down more than 22%. Sure, LIN has solid fundamentals, but when panic hits, it still takes a hit.
The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio, with a collection of 30 stocks, has a track record of comfortably outperforming its benchmark that includes all 3 – the S&P 500, S&P mid-cap, and Russell 2000 indices. Why is that? As a group, HQ Portfolio stocks provided better returns with less risk versus the benchmark index; less of a roller-coaster ride, as evident in HQ Portfolio performance metrics.