On May 26, 2023, institutional investor Thrivent Financial for Lutherans announced that it had reduced its holdings in Playa Hotels & Resorts by 54.3% during the fourth quarter of the previous year. The company owned 61,329 shares of the hotel and resort operator’s stock after selling 72,829 shares, with a total worth of $400,000 at the end of the reporting period.
Playa Hotels & Resorts NV is a Netherlands-based enterprise known for owning oceanfront resorts in Cancun, Los Cabos, Montego Bay, Puerto Vallarta, Playa del Carmen, and Cap Cana. Founded in March 2013, it is engaged in the operation of top-notch hospitality establishments recognized for their all-inclusive services.
In other prime news on Playa Hotels & Resorts’ recent developments on shareholding and trading activities were reports about Director Karl Mr. Peterson selling 100,000 shares of stock worth approximately $948K on March 3rd this year. He now has 2,694,033 shares valued at approximately $25M+. Chief Accounting Officer Brandon B. Buhler also sold 32K shares amounting to around $287K on February 28th. These transactions were disclosed through documents filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission and are available to access through hyperlinks provided.
It was further revealed that insiders have recently sold over 187K shares of Playa Hotels & Resorts stock worth a total of $1.75M within ninety days prior to May 26th this year-7.60% of total stock ownership falls under insiders’ control.
As expected from any investment entity like Thrivent Financial for Lutherans or individual investors such as Peterson and Buhler’s dispositions – buying or selling stocks depends on various factors-these could include financial analysis and consciousness or merely portfolio balancing approaches that accountants would know much about when dealing with assets. Whatever the reason for these movements in share ownership, market observers interested in Playa Hotels & Resorts’ stock performance and placed orders on it from today onwards might consider influencing their decision-making when to buy or sell based on this development.
Playa Hotels & Resorts Takes Center Stage with Large Institutional Investor Interest and Positive Performance Predictions
Playa Hotels & Resorts NV, a hotel and resort operator with properties in popular tourist destinations such as Cancun and Montego Bay, has recently caught the attention of several large investors. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of Montreal Can, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP, Vanguard Group Inc., and Mackenzie Financial Corp have all increased their holdings in Playa Hotels & Resorts over the past few months.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. alone increased its position by 46.5% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 166,474 shares and bringing its total ownership to 524,376 shares valued at $4,536,000. Meanwhile, Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new position worth around $3,705,000.
These institutional investors now own a staggering 82.25% of the stock in Playa Hotels & Resorts.
The interest from these large players comes as no surprise given that several research firms have issued positive reports on PLYA’s performance lately. Oppenheimer upped its price target on PLYA from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave it an “outperform” rating in February this year. Citigroup also upgraded its target price on PLYA from $8.00 to $9.00 and called it a “buy.” Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft followed suit by lifting their price target on PLYA from $14 to $15 per share.
Founded in March 2013 and headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Playa Hotels & Resorts owns all-inclusive oceanfront properties across different regions like Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta.
At present trading conditions (May 26th), PLYA opened at $9 per share – within touching distance of its one-year high point of $9.77 which occurred earlier this year (2023). In total the company has a market cap of approximately $1.37 billion and a price to earnings ratio of 25.71.
A notable facet of Playa Hotels & Resorts were their Q1 2023 earnings which were disclosed on Friday, May 5, when the company reported $0.31 EPS – in line with market expectations – and an improved net margin of 6.22%, in contrast to its previous financial quarter. Accompanied with this, the firm’s revenue for Q1 2023 was up by approximately 24.7% YoY.
The future for Playa Hotels and Resorts seems optimistic amongst wider positive predictions made by some investment analysis firms. Equities analysts predict that it will post an EPS of $0.57 for the current year based upon consistent gains in revenues over the past two quarters (Q4-2022-Q1-2023) which have shocked analysts given the context of COVID-19 induced travel restrictions which has posed risks to global tourism industry stability in recent years.
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