Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) Upgraded at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $97.00 target price on the stock.

PLNT has been the subject of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Planet Fitness from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price target for the company from $80.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Friday, May 10th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $87.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Planet Fitness in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an overweight rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Planet Fitness in a report on Friday, June 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Planet Fitness from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Planet Fitness from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $83.79.

Planet Fitness Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of PLNT stock opened at $81.73 on Thursday. Planet Fitness has a 12-month low of $44.13 and a 12-month high of $82.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $76.89 and its 200 day moving average is $68.48.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.05. Planet Fitness had a negative return on equity of 121.99% and a net margin of 14.16%. The firm had revenue of $300.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.17 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Planet Fitness will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Planet Fitness news, CAO Brian O’donnell sold 6,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.39, for a total transaction of $497,153.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $524,549.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 5.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Planet Fitness

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 897,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,549,000 after buying an additional 133,541 shares in the last quarter. Broad Bay Capital Management LP raised its position in Planet Fitness by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Broad Bay Capital Management LP now owns 1,223,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,279,000 after purchasing an additional 163,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,174,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,976,000 after purchasing an additional 97,823 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Planet Fitness by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 228,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,335,000 after purchasing an additional 45,623 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Planet Fitness during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,786,000. Institutional investors own 95.53% of the company’s stock.

About Planet Fitness

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.