Playa Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:PLYA) Short Interest Update

Playa Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:PLYA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,810,000 shares, a growth of 19.1% from the August 31st total of 3,200,000 shares. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 765,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Playa Hotels & Resorts Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PLYA traded down $0.04 on Friday, hitting $7.80. 776,054 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 876,527. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.46. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.62. Playa Hotels & Resorts has a 52 week low of $6.88 and a 52 week high of $9.85.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Playa Hotels & Resorts

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Playa Hotels & Resorts by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,421,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,894,000 after purchasing an additional 461,888 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Playa Hotels & Resorts by 335.0% during the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 166,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after buying an additional 128,256 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in Playa Hotels & Resorts in the 2nd quarter worth about $258,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in Playa Hotels & Resorts in the 1st quarter worth about $134,000. Finally, Long Pond Capital LP lifted its stake in Playa Hotels & Resorts by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Long Pond Capital LP now owns 3,991,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,487,000 after acquiring an additional 518,316 shares during the period. 74.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About Playa Hotels & Resorts

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.