Playa Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:PLYA) Short Interest Up 351.5% in February

Playa Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:PLYA) saw a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,860,000 shares, an increase of 351.5% from the January 31st total of 3,070,000 shares. Currently, 15.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,640,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Playa Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

PLYA stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $13.35. 3,061,579 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,665,456. Playa Hotels & Resorts has a twelve month low of $6.95 and a twelve month high of $13.38. The company has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16.

Playa Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:PLYA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.04. Playa Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 14.12% and a net margin of 6.84%. The business had revenue of $218.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.26 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Playa Hotels & Resorts will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Playa Hotels & Resorts

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLYA. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Playa Hotels & Resorts by 3.0% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,664 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Playa Hotels & Resorts by 5,003.1% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 3,202 shares in the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Playa Hotels & Resorts by 3.1% during the third quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 115,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 3,502 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Playa Hotels & Resorts by 13.8% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 29,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Playa Hotels & Resorts by 86.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 4,342 shares in the last quarter. 74.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer lowered Playa Hotels & Resorts from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Macquarie lowered Playa Hotels & Resorts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Playa Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $13.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Playa Hotels & Resorts in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.10.

About Playa Hotels & Resorts

Playa Hotels & Resorts NV engages in the operation of hotels and resorts. The firm’s geographical segments include Yucatán Peninsula, Pacific Coast, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. It owns all-inclusive oceanfront resorts in Cancun, Los Cabos, Montego Bay, Puerto Vallarta, Playa del Carmen, and Cap Cana.