Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.6667.

VIK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho increased their target price on Viking from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Viking from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Viking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Viking from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Viking from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking

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

Viking Stock Performance

Shares of VIK opened at $68.28 on Monday. Viking has a 12-month low of $31.79 and a 12-month high of $81.48. The stock has a market cap of $30.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.76. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.17.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.13. Viking had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 240.75%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Viking will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Viking

Here are the key news stories impacting Viking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Viking took delivery of a new river ship, the Viking Eldir, expanding capacity on Rhine/Main/Danube itineraries. Fleet growth supports revenue and itinerary availability for the key river-cruise segment. Viking Takes Delivery of Newest River Ship in Europe
• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on VIK to $83.00 — analyst upgrades/target lifts can directly improve investor sentiment and buying interest. Viking (NYSE:VIK) Price Target Raised to $83.00 at UBS Group
• Neutral Sentiment: A press piece highlights a VGS portfolio move that “supercharges” Viking SupplyNet with premium piping connections. It’s unclear how directly this affects Viking Holdings’ core cruise/tour operations or near-term earnings, so any impact is uncertain. VGS Portfolio Supercharges Viking SupplyNet’s Unique, Vertically Integrated Model with Premium Piping Connections
• Neutral Sentiment: Several media items reference the word “Viking” (sports, history, lifestyle, or other companies like Viking Therapeutics). These are brand/name noise and not related to Viking Holdings’ fundamentals. Investors should ignore those when evaluating VIK. Example: NFL coverage about the Minnesota Vikings (not the company). Kyler Murray signs with Vikings: Minnesota earns A+ for landing former No. 1 pick after Cardinals release
• Negative Sentiment: Financial/valuation headwinds remain: VIK carries high leverage (debt-to-equity ~4.76) and short-term liquidity ratios below 1.0, which can amplify downside during demand slowdowns or cost pressures. These factors temper upside despite positive operational/analyst news.

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.