Playa Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:PLYA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Playa Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:PLYA) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,810,000 shares, an increase of 19.1% from the August 31st total of 3,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 765,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLYA. Aristides Capital LLC boosted its position in Playa Hotels & Resorts by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 30,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 1,739 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Playa Hotels & Resorts by 1.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 144,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Playa Hotels & Resorts by 15.0% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 25,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Playa Hotels & Resorts by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,389 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in Playa Hotels & Resorts by 141.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 8,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 5,087 shares during the period. 74.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Playa Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

PLYA traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $7.80. The company had a trading volume of 776,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 876,527. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a current ratio of 2.23. Playa Hotels & Resorts has a 52-week low of $6.88 and a 52-week high of $9.85. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.46.

Playa Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:PLYA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.02. Playa Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 5.85%. The business had revenue of $235.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $228.95 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. Playa Hotels & Resorts’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Playa Hotels & Resorts will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on PLYA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Playa Hotels & Resorts from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Playa Hotels & Resorts in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $8.00 price objective (down from $12.00) on shares of Playa Hotels & Resorts in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Playa Hotels & Resorts from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Playa Hotels & Resorts from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Playa Hotels & Resorts presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.00.

Playa Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V., together with its subsidiaries, owns, develops, and operates resorts in prime beachfront locations in Mexico and the Caribbean. It owns and manages Hyatt Zilara Cancún, Hyatt Ziva Cancún, Wyndham Alltra Cancún, Wyndham Alltra Playa del Carmen, Hilton Playa del Carmen All-Inclusive Resort, Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta, and Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos located in Mexico; Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall, Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall, Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa, Jewel Grande Montego Bay Resort & Spa, and Jewel Paradise Cove Beach Resort & Spa situated in Jamaica; the Hilton La Romana All-Inclusive Family Resort, the Hilton La Romana All-Inclusive Adult Resort, Hyatt Zilara Cap Cana, Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana, and Jewel Palm Beach located in the Dominican Republic; and manages resorts on behalf of third-party owners.