Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Viking (NYSE:VIK) Stock

Key Points

• Mizuho raised its price target on Viking from $69 to $75, but kept an underperform rating, implying about 11% downside from the prior close.
• Other Wall Street firms remain mixed-to-positive on the stock, with several analysts lifting targets and the broader consensus sitting at a Moderate Buy with an average target of $87.14.
• Viking’s latest quarter showed revenue of $1.05 billion, above expectations and up 17.5% year over year, while EPS matched forecasts at -$0.11, signaling solid demand despite ongoing cost and leverage concerns.

Viking (NYSE:VIK - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Mizuho from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "underperform" rating on the stock. Mizuho's price objective would suggest a potential downside of 11.04% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $86.00 target price (up from $81.00) on shares of Viking in a report on Friday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Viking from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays set a $88.00 price target on shares of Viking in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Viking from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $95.00 price target on Viking and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.14.

Viking Trading Down 2.8%

VIK stock opened at $84.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.76, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.94. Viking has a fifty-two week low of $42.20 and a fifty-two week high of $92.00.

Viking (NYSE:VIK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11). The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. Viking had a return on equity of 240.75% and a net margin of 17.65%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.24) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Viking will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking news, EVP Jeffrey Dash sold 46,369 shares of Viking stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 420,022 shares in the company, valued at $33,698,365.06. The trade was a 9.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Institutional Trading of Viking

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Optimize Financial Inc lifted its stake in shares of Viking by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 9,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 2,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Viking by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,733 shares of the company's stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Viking by 3.3% during 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 last quarter. Finally, CI Investments Inc. increased its position in Viking by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 551 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.84% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Viking

Here are the key news stories impacting Viking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Viking posted Q1 EPS of -$0.11, matching expectations, while revenue of $1.05 billion topped estimates and rose 17.5% year over year, helping reinforce the view that demand remains solid. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports noted the stock rising after earnings because results came in ahead of Wall Street revenue expectations and the company highlighted strong advanced bookings, suggesting good visibility into future travel demand. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Viking said it is well positioned for 2027 thanks to strong advanced bookings, which supports the bull case for sustained growth in the cruise business. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company announced Leah Talactac as the new CEO, with Torstein Hagen moving to executive chairman. Investors may view the succession as orderly, but it also puts leadership continuity and capital allocation under closer scrutiny. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around the CEO shift also highlighted Viking’s valuation and debt profile, which could limit upside if investors become more cautious about balance-sheet risk. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: Rising fuel costs are still a headwind, though stronger revenue growth is currently helping offset that pressure. Article title

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.