Viking (NYSE:VIK) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $74.83 and last traded at $72.3590, with a volume of 174556 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $59.00 price target on shares of Viking in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Viking from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Viking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Viking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Viking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.19.

Viking Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.69. The company has a market cap of $31.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.68.

Viking (NYSE:VIK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.01. Viking had a return on equity of 716.92% and a net margin of 15.53%.The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Viking’s quarterly revenue was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Viking Holdings Ltd. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Viking by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,048,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,246,000 after buying an additional 3,471,244 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking by 381.8% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 8,474,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,792,000 after acquiring an additional 6,715,666 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Viking by 80.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,117,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $504,601,000 after acquiring an additional 3,615,969 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in Viking by 57.9% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,706,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,095,000 after purchasing an additional 2,092,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Viking in the 2nd quarter valued at $236,911,000. 98.84% of the stock is currently 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.