Viking (NYSE:VIK) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Viking (NYSE:VIK) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on VIK. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viking in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Viking from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on Viking from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on Viking from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Viking from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.21.

Viking Trading Down 4.2%

NYSE VIK opened at $68.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.76. The firm has a market cap of $30.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $73.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.69. Viking has a 52 week low of $31.79 and a 52 week high of $81.48.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter. Viking had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 240.75%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Viking will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Viking by 400.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,577,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,462,947 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Viking by 381.8% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 8,474,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,792,000 after purchasing an additional 6,715,666 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Viking in the fourth quarter valued at about $372,297,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Viking by 80.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,117,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,601,000 after purchasing an additional 3,615,969 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking by 316.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,426,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,082,000 after purchasing an additional 3,364,265 shares during the last quarter. 98.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Company Profile

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.