Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) Trading Up 8% Following Earnings Beat

Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT)’s stock price rose 8% during trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $78.37 and last traded at $77.79. 627,226 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 1,653,708 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.01.

The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.05. Planet Fitness had a net margin of 13.66% and a negative return on equity of 140.14%. The company had revenue of $300.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.17 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PLNT has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Planet Fitness from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Planet Fitness from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, May 10th. TD Cowen upgraded Planet Fitness from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com raised Planet Fitness from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Planet Fitness from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Planet Fitness presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.87.

Insider Transactions at Planet Fitness

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Planet Fitness

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Planet Fitness by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Planet Fitness by 886.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 5,248 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 247.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Planet Fitness during the 4th quarter valued at about $728,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Planet Fitness in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,752,000. 95.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Planet Fitness Trading Up 3.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.53, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $72.57 and a 200-day moving average of $66.88.

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.