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

Viking (NYSE:VIK) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Viking in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Viking in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Viking from $76.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up from $81.00) on shares of Viking in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Viking from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.86.

Viking Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of VIK opened at $92.06 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.27, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.78. Viking has a 52 week low of $44.01 and a 52 week high of $93.70.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Viking had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 149.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viking will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Dash sold 46,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.23, for a total transaction of $3,720,184.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 420,022 shares in the company, valued at $33,698,365.06. This trade represents a 9.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIK. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Viking by 92.0% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking during the 2nd quarter worth about $303,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking during the 2nd quarter worth about $922,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Viking by 34,748.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,812,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,568,000 after buying an additional 1,806,920 shares during the period. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC raised its stake in Viking by 275.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 30,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 22,188 shares in the last quarter. 98.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.