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

Shares of Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $96.13.

PLNT has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Planet Fitness from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Planet Fitness in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Planet Fitness from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up previously from $91.00) on shares of Planet Fitness in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Planet Fitness from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Simmons sold 11,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $1,101,778.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLNT. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Planet Fitness by 132.5% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,352,000 after acquiring an additional 16,503 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 37,236 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Planet Fitness in the third quarter valued at about $604,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 126.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 100.6% during the third quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 20,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,703,000 after buying an additional 10,518 shares during the period. 95.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Planet Fitness Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE PLNT opened at $101.62 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.52. Planet Fitness has a twelve month low of $54.35 and a twelve month high of $102.90.

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