Critical Review: Viking (NYSE:VIK) & Life Time Group (NYSE:LTH)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Viking and Life Time Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viking	2	3	11	0	2.56
Life Time Group	0	2	7	2	3.00

Viking currently has a consensus price target of $84.29, indicating a potential upside of 4.50%. Life Time Group has a consensus price target of $40.40, indicating a potential upside of 20.25%. Given Life Time Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Life Time Group is more favorable than Viking.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.8% of Viking shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.4% of Life Time Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.3% of Life Time Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Viking has a beta of 1.57, indicating that its stock price is 57% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Life Time Group has a beta of 1.5, indicating that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viking	$6.50 billion	5.53	$1.15 billion	$2.57	31.38
Life Time Group	$3.00 billion	2.50	$373.67 million	$1.71	19.65

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

Profitability

This table compares Viking and Life Time Group’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%
Life Time Group	12.56%	10.10%	3.91%

Summary

Viking beats Life Time Group on 11 of the 15 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 Life Time Group

Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. provides health, fitness, and wellness experiences to a community of individual members in the United States and Canada. It primarily engages in designing, building, and operating of sports and athletic, professional fitness, family recreation, and spa centers in a resort-like environment, principally in suburban and urban locations of metropolitan areas. The company also offers fitness floors with equipment, locker rooms, group fitness studios, indoor and outdoor pools, bistros, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, pickleball courts, basketball courts, LifeSpa, LifeCafe, and childcare and Kids Academy learning spaces. In addition, its Life Time Digital provides live streaming fitness classes, remote goal-based personal training, nutrition and weight loss support, curated award-winning health, and fitness and wellness content. The company is also involved in media activities, conducting athletic events, and provision of related services. It operates various centers, including ground leases. The company was formerly known as LTF Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. in June 21, 2021. Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Chanhassen, Minnesota.