5 Best UK Stocks To Buy Now

2. Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 48

Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) was founded in 1879 and is based in Woking, the United Kingdom. It is an industrial gas and engineering company, offering atmospheric gasses, process gasses, electronic gasses, specialty gasses, and acetylene. On October 24, Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) declared a quarterly dividend of $1.17 per share, in line with previous. The dividend is payable on December 16, to shareholders of the company as of December 2. After posting market-beating Q3 results, the company raised full-year 2022 adjusted EPS guidance to $11.93-$12.03 from the earlier outlook of $11.73-$11.93 and an $11.91 consensus, representing a 12% to 13% growth year-over-year. 

On October 17, Societe Generale analyst Peter Clark assigned a Buy rating to Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) but lowered the price target on the stock to $370 from $400. The analyst expects earnings “reliability” ahead but trimmed the price target to factor in the “correcting stock markets.”

According to Insider Monkey’s data, 48 hedge funds were long Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) at the end of the second quarter of 2022, compared to 54 funds in the last quarter. Ian Simm’s Impax Asset Management is the leading stakeholder of the company, with 2.8 million shares worth $813.6 million. 

Here is what ClearBridge International Growth EAFE Portfolio has to say about Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) in its Q2 2022 investor letter:

“The replacement of demand for Russian gas with green hydrogen positions Linde (NYSE:LIN) well. Green hydrogen, made by using renewable energy to split water into its basic elements, hydrogen and oxygen, and subsequently cleanly burn the hydrogen as fuel, is seen as key to lowering emissions in hard-to-decarbonize industries such as steel and cement, as well as transport. In 2021 Linde announced a long-term agreement to provide European semiconductor maker Infineon (OTCQX:IFNNY) with onsite production and storage of green hydrogen for the company’s site in Villach, Austria. Securing a clean, domestic source of energy for semiconductor manufacturing appears strategic today amid heightened concerns of reliable supply from Taiwan.”