Nomura Instinet analyst Harry Curtis views yesterday's weakness in shares of Playa Hotels & Resorts following a 6M share block trade as a buying opportunity. The sale is a cleanup trade executed by a nonstrategic investor and does not signal a change in business trends, Curtis told investors yesterday in a research note. He believes 2018 will be a positive year for the company and keeps a Buy rating on the shares with a $16 price target.

Nomura Instinet analyst Harry Curtis raised his Lodging sector price targets after rolling forward his estimates to 2019 EBITDA. The analyst sees the most upside in his Buy-rated stocks: Hilton (HLT), Marriott (MAR), Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV), Extended Stay America (STAY) and Playa Hotels & Resorts (PLYA). He raised his price target for Neutral-rated Choice Hotels (CHH) to $88 from $85, Neutral-rated Hyatt (H) to $85 from $76, Hilton Grand Vacations to $52 from $50, Hilton to $105 from $99, Neutral-rated Host Hotels (HST) to $23 from $22 and Marriott to $165 from $159.

Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Woronka believes Playa Hotels & Resorts at its investor day provided more specifics on how and when it expects to achieve meaningful growth in incremental direct bookings. Management demonstrated "important conviction in what is clearly a robust growth agenda with many moving parts," Woronka tells investors in a research note. The analyst thinks the time to establish new positions or add to current positions in Playa is now. The market is likely to start pricing in the company's "outsized growth" that should materialize in 2020 "in just a few months," Woronka writes. He keeps a Buy rating on the shares.