Viking (NYSE:VIK) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $92.22 and last traded at $91.30, with a volume of 1188381 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $87.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Viking in a report on Wednesday. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Viking from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Viking from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up from $81.00) on shares of Viking in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Viking from $87.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.86.

Viking Stock Up 5.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $41.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.36. 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 (NYSE:VIK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.24) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Viking news, EVP Jeffrey Dash sold 46,369 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 420,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,698,365.06. This trade represents a 9.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VIK. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking by 92.0% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking during the 2nd quarter worth $303,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking during the 2nd quarter worth $922,000. State Street Corp grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,806,920 shares during the period. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC boosted its holdings in Viking by 275.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 30,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after acquiring an additional 22,188 shares during the period. 98.84% of the stock is currently 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.