Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) Raised to Outperform at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. BNP Paribas currently has $97.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PLNT. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Planet Fitness from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com raised Planet Fitness from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Planet Fitness from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their target price for the company from $80.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday, May 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Planet Fitness from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Planet Fitness from $73.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $84.87.

Planet Fitness Stock Performance

PLNT stock opened at $81.56 on Thursday. Planet Fitness has a one year low of $44.13 and a one year high of $83.36. The firm has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a PE ratio of 46.87, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.61.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $300.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.17 million. Planet Fitness had a net margin of 14.16% and a negative return on equity of 121.99%. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Planet Fitness will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Planet Fitness

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 897,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,549,000 after purchasing an additional 133,541 shares during the period. Broad Bay Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Planet Fitness by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Broad Bay Capital Management LP now owns 1,223,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,279,000 after buying an additional 163,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Planet Fitness by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,174,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,976,000 after acquiring an additional 97,823 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 24.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 228,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,335,000 after acquiring an additional 45,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Planet Fitness in the 1st quarter valued at $1,786,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.53% of the company’s stock.

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.