Viking (NYSE:VIK) Earns Strong Sell Rating from Analysts at Mizuho

Key Points

• Mizuho upgraded Viking (NYSE:VIK) to a "strong sell" rating, marking a significant change in analysts' outlook for the stock.
• Despite the downgrade from some analysts, multiple firms including UBS and Citigroup maintain buy ratings and have raised their price targets, with averages around $58.93.
• Viking reported quarterly earnings of $0.99 per share, slightly below expectations, but demonstrated a year-over-year revenue increase of 18.5% with total revenues of $1.88 billion.

Stock analysts at Mizuho started coverage on shares of Viking (NYSE:VIK - Get Free Report) in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a "strong sell" rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho's price objective suggests a potential downside of 7.23% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on VIK. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Viking from $55.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Viking from $51.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Viking in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Viking from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Viking from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.93.

Viking Stock Performance

VIK opened at $58.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.33. The company has a market cap of $25.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 2.24. The company's 50 day moving average is $60.89 and its 200 day moving average is $51.87. Viking has a 12-month low of $31.79 and a 12-month high of $65.37.

Viking (NYSE:VIK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 19th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.01). Viking had a negative return on equity of 374.71% and a net margin of 13.99%.The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Viking will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Viking

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in Viking in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Viking in the first quarter worth about $33,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new position in Viking in the second quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Viking by 37.2% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,277 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. 98.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.