Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) & Viking (NYSE:VIK) Critical Review

Viking (NYSE:VIK) and Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Viking and Golar LNG”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viking	$4.71 billion	4.49	-$1.86 billion	N/A	N/A
Golar LNG	$298.43 million	14.04	-$46.79 million	$0.14	286.73

Golar LNG has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Viking.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Viking and Golar LNG, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viking	0	4	10	0	2.71
Golar LNG	0	1	4	0	2.80

Viking currently has a consensus price target of $44.43, suggesting a potential downside of 9.36%. Golar LNG has a consensus price target of $50.13, suggesting a potential upside of 24.88%. Given Golar LNG’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Golar LNG is more favorable than Viking.

Profitability

This table compares Viking and Golar LNG’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Viking	-10.97%	N/A	-1.53%
Golar LNG	4.92%	9.12%	5.78%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.8% of Viking shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.2% of Golar LNG shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Golar LNG shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Golar LNG beats Viking on 8 of the 11 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 Golar LNG

Golar LNG Limited designs, converts, owns, and operates marine infrastructure for the liquefaction of natural gas. The company operates through three segments: FLNG, Corporate and Other, and Shipping. It engages in the regasification, storage, and offloading of liquefied natural gas (LNG); operation of floating liquefaction natural gas (FLNG) vessels or projects; transportation of LNG carriers; and vessel management activities. Golar LNG Limited was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.