Critical Contrast: Viking (NYSE:VIK) & Six Flags Entertainment (NYSE:FUN)

Viking (NYSE:VIK) and Six Flags Entertainment (NYSE:FUN) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Viking and Six Flags Entertainment”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viking	$6.50 billion	5.81	$1.15 billion	$3.01	28.18
Six Flags Entertainment	$3.10 billion	0.46	-$1.60 billion	($17.32)	-0.81

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.8% of Viking shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.7% of Six Flags Entertainment shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Six Flags Entertainment shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Viking and Six Flags Entertainment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Viking	19.33%	117.98%	10.80%
Six Flags Entertainment	-57.25%	7.43%	0.38%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Viking and Six Flags Entertainment, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viking	1	2	16	0	2.79
Six Flags Entertainment	3	6	7	0	2.25

Viking presently has a consensus target price of $107.33, suggesting a potential upside of 26.54%. Six Flags Entertainment has a consensus target price of $21.93, suggesting a potential upside of 55.98%. Given Six Flags Entertainment’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Six Flags Entertainment is more favorable than Viking.

Volatility and Risk

Viking has a beta of 1.41, meaning that its stock price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Six Flags Entertainment has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Viking beats Six Flags Entertainment on 12 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 Six Flags Entertainment

Cedar Fair, L.P. owns and operates amusement and water parks, as well as complementary resort facilities. Its amusement parks include Cedar Point located on Lake Erie between Cleveland and Toledo in Sandusky, Ohio; Knott's Berry Farm near Los Angeles, California; Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, Ontario; Kings Island near Cincinnati, Ohio; Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina; Kings Dominion situated near Richmond, Virginia; California's Great America located in Santa Clara, California; Dorney Park in Pennsylvania; Worlds of Fun located in Kansas City, Missouri; Valleyfair situated near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Michigan's Adventure situated near Muskegon, Michigan; Schlitterbahn Waterpark & Resort New Braunfels in New Braunfels, Texas; and Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston in Galveston, Texas. The company also owns and operates the Castaway Bay Indoor Waterpark Resort, Hotel Breakers, Cedar Point's Express Hotel, and Sawmill Creek Resort. Cedar Fair, L.P. was founded in 1983 and is based in Sandusky, Ohio.