Viking (NYSE:VIK) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Viking (NYSE:VIK) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on VIK. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Viking from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Viking in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Viking in a report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Viking from $87.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Viking from $88.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.76.

Viking Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VIK opened at $98.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.27, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Viking has a fifty-two week low of $55.09 and a fifty-two week high of $105.76.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Viking had a return on equity of 149.40% and a net margin of 18.00%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Viking will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Dash sold 46,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 420,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,698,365.06. This represents a 9.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard Marnell sold 6,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.30, for a total value of $577,116.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 110,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,460,699. The trade was a 5.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 63,935 shares of company stock valued at $5,360,351.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIK. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viking in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Viking during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Viking by 19,500.0% in the 4th 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 acquired a new position in shares of Viking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking by 316.0% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.84% of the company’s stock.

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.