Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Planet Fitness from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Planet Fitness from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Planet Fitness from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Planet Fitness from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Planet Fitness has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.21.

Planet Fitness Stock Performance

Shares of PLNT traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.86. 2,214,413 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,677,937. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.21. Planet Fitness has a 1 year low of $44.13 and a 1 year high of $75.86. The stock has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.37.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. Planet Fitness had a net margin of 12.91% and a negative return on equity of 120.89%. The firm had revenue of $285.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $282.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Planet Fitness will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLNT. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Planet Fitness by 66.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 877,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,166,000 after purchasing an additional 351,401 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Planet Fitness during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $389,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Planet Fitness during the third quarter valued at approximately $944,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Planet Fitness by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 5,719 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Planet Fitness by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 20,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.