Viking (NYSE:VIK) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The Goldman Sachs Group now has a $78.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $66.00. Viking traded as high as $68.91 and last traded at $68.4790, with a volume of 607057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.68.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on VIK. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Viking in a report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Viking from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Mizuho set a $59.00 price target on Viking in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Viking from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Viking from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.69.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking by 15.6% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 50,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 6,841 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Viking by 50.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 56,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 19,014 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Viking in the first quarter valued at $261,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Viking by 57.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,114,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,038,000 after buying an additional 774,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Viking by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Crestwood Capital Management L.P. now owns 426,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,954,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.84% of the company’s stock.

Viking Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.27. The firm has a market cap of $30.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.68, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. Viking had a return on equity of 716.92% and a net margin of 15.53%.The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.