Viking (NYSE:VIK) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Sanford C. Bernstein

Viking (NYSE:VIK) was upgraded by research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Viking from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Viking from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Viking from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Viking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $79.00 to $109.00 in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.38.

Viking Price Performance

VIK opened at $90.06 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.92. The firm has a market cap of $40.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.59. Viking has a twelve month low of $46.06 and a twelve month high of $93.70. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share 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 business’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.24) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Viking will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Dash sold 46,369 shares of Viking stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.23, for a total value of $3,720,184.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 420,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,698,365.06. The trade was a 9.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Optimize Financial Inc boosted its stake in Viking by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 9,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC raised its position in shares of Viking by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 2,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 5,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, CI Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 551 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. 98.84% of the stock is 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.