Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $93.38.

PLNT has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Planet Fitness from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $97.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Planet Fitness in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price objective on the stock. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 target price (up from $91.00) on shares of Planet Fitness in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Planet Fitness from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Planet Fitness Price Performance

Planet Fitness stock opened at $99.55 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.45 and a 200-day moving average of $78.41. Planet Fitness has a one year low of $54.35 and a one year high of $102.81.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $292.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.79 million. Planet Fitness had a negative return on equity of 107.97% and a net margin of 14.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Planet Fitness will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Simmons sold 11,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $1,101,778.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,838,382. This trade represents a 37.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Planet Fitness

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dorsal Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsal Capital Management LP now owns 2,907,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,940,000 after acquiring an additional 207,193 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Planet Fitness by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,524,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,061,000 after buying an additional 37,236 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Planet Fitness in the 2nd quarter valued at about $166,978,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,859,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,453,000 after buying an additional 483,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anomaly Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Planet Fitness during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $106,795,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.53% of the company’s stock.

Planet Fitness Company Profile

Planet Fitness, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates fitness centers under the Planet Fitness brand. The company operates through three segments: Franchise, Corporate-Owned Stores, and Equipment. The company is involved in franchising business in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Panama, Mexico, and Australia.