Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

by · The Markets Daily

Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT – Get Free Report)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $102.81 and last traded at $101.48, with a volume of 27178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLNT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Planet Fitness from $73.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Planet Fitness from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Planet Fitness from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $97.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Planet Fitness from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Planet Fitness from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.81.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on PLNT

Planet Fitness Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $85.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.09. The firm has a market cap of $8.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.49.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $292.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.79 million. Planet Fitness had a net margin of 14.23% and a negative return on equity of 107.97%. Planet Fitness’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Planet Fitness, Inc. will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Simmons sold 11,453 shares of Planet Fitness stock in a transaction 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Planet Fitness

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLNT. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Planet Fitness by 132.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 16,503 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Planet Fitness by 2.6% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Planet Fitness during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $604,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Planet Fitness in the third quarter valued at $312,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 37,236 shares during the period. 95.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Planet Fitness

(Get Free Report)

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.

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