Head to Head Contrast: International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) versus Viking (NYSE:VIK)

Viking (NYSE:VIK) and International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) are both transportation companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Viking and International Seaways, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viking	0	3	9	0	2.75
International Seaways	0	1	2	1	3.00

Viking presently has a consensus target price of $37.50, suggesting a potential downside of 13.25%. International Seaways has a consensus target price of $62.67, suggesting a potential upside of 39.97%. Given International Seaways’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe International Seaways is more favorable than Viking.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Viking and International Seaways”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viking	$4.71 billion	3.96	-$1.86 billion	N/A	N/A
International Seaways	$1.07 billion	2.08	$556.45 million	$10.50	4.26

International Seaways has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Viking.

Profitability

This table compares Viking and International Seaways’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Viking	N/A	N/A	N/A
International Seaways	50.70%	26.55%	18.16%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

67.3% of International Seaways shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of International Seaways shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

International Seaways beats Viking on 9 of the 12 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 International Seaways

International Seaways, Inc. owns and operates a fleet of oceangoing vessels for the transportation of crude oil and petroleum products in the international flag trade. It operates in two segments: Crude Tankers and Product Carriers. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned a fleet of 73 vessels. It serves independent and state-owned oil companies, oil traders, refinery operators, and international government entities. The company was formerly known as OSG International, Inc. and changed its name to International Seaways, Inc. in October 2016. International Seaways, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in New York, New York.