Viking (NYSE:VIK) & Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL) Financial Contrast

Viking (NYSE:VIK) and Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Viking and Travel + Leisure’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Viking	17.65%	240.75%	10.23%
Travel + Leisure	5.74%	-47.77%	6.24%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Viking and Travel + Leisure, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viking	2	3	11	0	2.56
Travel + Leisure	0	3	8	0	2.73

Viking currently has a consensus price target of $76.67, indicating a potential downside of 10.39%. Travel + Leisure has a consensus price target of $85.90, indicating a potential upside of 9.82%. Given Travel + Leisure’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Travel + Leisure is more favorable than Viking.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Viking and Travel + Leisure”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viking	$6.50 billion	5.87	$1.15 billion	$2.57	33.29
Travel + Leisure	$4.02 billion	1.21	$230.00 million	$3.41	22.94

Viking has higher revenue and earnings than Travel + Leisure. Travel + Leisure is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Viking, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.8% of Viking shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.5% of Travel + Leisure shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of Travel + Leisure shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Viking has a beta of 1.9, indicating that its stock price is 90% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Travel + Leisure has a beta of 1.32, indicating that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Viking beats Travel + Leisure on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Viking

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.

About Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Co., together with its subsidiaries, provides hospitality services and travel products in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Vacation Ownership; and Travel and Membership. The Vacation Ownership segment develops, markets, and sells vacation ownership interests (VOIs) to individual consumers, as well as provides consumer financing in connection with the sale of VOIs; and property management services at resorts. The Travel and Membership segment operates various travel businesses, including three vacation exchange brands, travel technology platforms, travel memberships, and direct-to-consumer rentals. This segment also offers private-label travel booking technology solutions. The company was formerly known as Wyndham Destinations, Inc. and changed its name to Travel + Leisure Co. in February 2021. Travel + Leisure Co. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.