Short Interest in Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) Increases By 36.2%

Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,760,000 shares, a growth of 36.2% from the February 13th total of 4,230,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days. Approximately 7.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PLNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Planet Fitness from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Macquarie cut their target price on shares of Planet Fitness from $99.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Planet Fitness from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Planet Fitness

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Planet Fitness by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Planet Fitness by 2.6% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A raised its stake in Planet Fitness by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 2,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Planet Fitness by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 95.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Planet Fitness Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PLNT traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $98.42. 295,129 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,635,942. Planet Fitness has a one year low of $54.35 and a one year high of $110.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a PE ratio of 52.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $101.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.62.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.08. Planet Fitness had a net margin of 14.23% and a negative return on equity of 107.97%. The company had revenue of $340.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Planet Fitness’s revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Planet Fitness will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

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.