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

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

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on VIK. Stifel Nicolaus set a $105.00 price objective on Viking in a report on Friday, May 15th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Viking from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Viking from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Viking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $75.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Viking from $76.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.38.

Viking Price Performance

NYSE:VIK opened at $97.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $85.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.11. Viking has a 12 month low of $47.02 and a 12 month high of $99.00. The firm has a market cap of $43.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.27.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). Viking had a return on equity of 149.40% and a net margin of 18.00%.The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.24) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Viking will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking

In related news, EVP Richard Marnell sold 6,120 shares of Viking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.30, for a total transaction of $577,116.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 110,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,460,699. This trade represents a 5.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Dash sold 46,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.23, for a total value of $3,720,184.87. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 92,566 shares of company stock valued at $7,657,130.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VIK. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Viking by 19,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 392 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Viking during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in Viking by 316.0% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Viking by 651.8% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.84% of the company’s stock.

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.