Contrasting Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) and Viking (NYSE:VIK)

Viking (NYSE:VIK) and Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Viking and Tidewater, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viking	0	2	10	0	2.83
Tidewater	0	0	5	0	3.00

Viking currently has a consensus target price of $41.00, suggesting a potential downside of 9.89%. Tidewater has a consensus target price of $102.25, suggesting a potential upside of 93.29%. Given Tidewater’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Tidewater is more favorable than Viking.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.1% of Tidewater shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.3% of Tidewater shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Viking and Tidewater’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%
Tidewater	13.92%	18.16%	9.40%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Viking and Tidewater”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viking	$4.71 billion	4.17	-$1.86 billion	N/A	N/A
Tidewater	$1.01 billion	2.74	$97.18 million	$3.40	15.56

Tidewater has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Viking.

Summary

Tidewater 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 Tidewater

Tidewater Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore support vessels and marine support services to the offshore energy industry through the operation of a fleet of marine service vessels worldwide. It provides services in support of offshore oil and gas exploration, field development, and production, as well as windfarm development and maintenance, including towing of and anchor handling for mobile offshore drilling units; transporting supplies and personnel necessary to sustain drilling, workover, and production activities; offshore construction, and seismic and subsea support; geotechnical survey support for windfarm construction; and various specialized services, such as pipe and cable laying. The company operates anchor handling towing supply vessels, platform supply vessels, crew boats, utility vessels, and offshore tugs. The company serves integrated and independent oil and gas exploration, field development, and production companies; mid-sized and smaller independent exploration and production companies; foreign government-owned or government-controlled organizations, and other related companies; offshore drilling contractors; and other companies, such as offshore construction, windfarm development, diving, and well stimulation companies. Tidewater Inc. was incorporated in 1956 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.