Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,040,000 shares, a drop of 20.0% from the July 15th total of 6,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Planet Fitness Stock Performance

Shares of Planet Fitness stock traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $79.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,304,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,686,934. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.31. The company has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.49. Planet Fitness has a one year low of $44.13 and a one year high of $81.64.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $300.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.17 million. Planet Fitness had a net margin of 14.16% and a negative return on equity of 121.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Planet Fitness will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Planet Fitness

In other Planet Fitness news, CAO Brian O’donnell sold 6,424 shares of Planet Fitness stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.39, for a total value of $497,153.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $524,549.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Planet Fitness

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 61.2% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 1.1% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 57,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,203,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Planet Fitness by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 6,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Planet Fitness by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. 95.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PLNT. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Planet Fitness from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, May 10th. StockNews.com raised Planet Fitness from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Planet Fitness in a research note on Friday, June 14th. TD Cowen raised Planet Fitness from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Planet Fitness from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.87.

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.