Financial Analysis: Viking (VIK) versus Its Rivals

Viking (NYSE:VIK) is one of 30 public companies in the “Water transportation” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Viking to related companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Viking and its rivals’ 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 Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Viking and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viking	0	4	12	0	2.75
Viking Competitors	397	1466	2363	105	2.50

Viking presently has a consensus target price of $46.38, suggesting a potential upside of 17.86%. As a group, “Water transportation” companies have a potential upside of 41.31%. Given Viking’s rivals higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Viking has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viking	$5.33 billion	-$1.86 billion	151.33
Viking Competitors	$4.43 billion	$276.48 million	47.45

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

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

Summary

Viking rivals 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.