Viking (VIK) and Its Rivals Critical Review

Viking (NYSE:VIK) is one of 30 publicly-traded companies in the “Water transportation” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Viking to similar businesses based on the strength of its valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.8% of Viking shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.4% of shares of all “Water transportation” companies are held by institutional investors. 7.3% of shares of all “Water transportation” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Viking and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viking	$5.33 billion	-$1.86 billion	154.25
Viking Competitors	$4.40 billion	$276.48 million	45.37

Viking has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its competitors. Viking is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Viking and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Viking	-10.97%	N/A	-1.53%
Viking Competitors	74.46%	15.43%	6.58%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Viking and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viking	0	4	11	0	2.73
Viking Competitors	395	1463	2349	104	2.50

Viking presently has a consensus price target of $46.33, suggesting a potential upside of 15.53%. As a group, “Water transportation” companies have a potential upside of 40.15%. Given Viking’s competitors higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Viking has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

Viking competitors beat Viking on 7 of the 12 factors compared.

Viking Company Profile

Viking Holdings Ltd engages in the passenger shipping and other forms of passenger transport in North America, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through River and Ocean segments. The company also operates as a tour entrepreneur for passengers and related activities in tourism. As of December 31, 2023, it operated a fleet of 92 ships, including 81 river vessels comprising 58 Longships, 10 smaller classes based on the Longship design, 11 other river vessels, and 1 river vessel charter and the Viking Mississippi; 9 ocean ships; and 2 expedition ships. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Pembroke, Bermuda.