Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Viking (NYSE:VIK) Price Target to $78.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo cut its price target on Viking from $82 to $78 and maintained an "equal weight" rating, with the new target implying roughly a 12.97% upside from the stock's then-current price.
• Analyst views are mixed but tilt positive: 11 analysts rate Viking a Buy, five Hold and one Sell, with an average target of $72.40, while Goldman, Citi and Morgan Stanley have recently raised targets into the $78–$88 range.
• Viking shares traded down 3.4% to $69.04; the company beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates (EPS $0.67 vs. $0.54 est., revenue $1.72B, +27.8% YoY), has a market cap of about $30.8B and very high institutional ownership (~98.8%).

Viking (NYSE:VIK - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 12.97% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Viking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Mizuho upped 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Viking in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Viking from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Viking from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.40.

Viking Trading Down 3.4%

NYSE VIK traded down $2.43 on Friday, hitting $69.04. 347,862 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,523,506. The company's 50-day moving average price is $73.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.76, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Viking has a 52-week low of $31.79 and a 52-week high of $81.48. The company has a market capitalization of $30.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.96.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Viking by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,619,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,043,945,000 after buying an additional 570,672 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Viking by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 8,611,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $614,960,000 after acquiring an additional 136,918 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Viking by 80.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,117,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $504,601,000 after acquiring an additional 3,615,969 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew 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 acquiring an additional 2,092,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Viking during the 4th quarter worth $372,297,000. 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.

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.