Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $120.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Planet Fitness traded as high as $102.90 and last traded at $102.33, with a volume of 519533 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $99.02.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on PLNT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Planet Fitness in a research report on Friday, September 27th. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 target price on the stock. 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 research report on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Planet Fitness from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Planet Fitness from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 price objective (up previously from $91.00) on shares of Planet Fitness in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Simmons sold 11,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,110 shares in the company, valued at $1,838,382. This trade represents a 37.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 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 lifted its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Planet Fitness during the 3rd quarter valued at about $604,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Planet Fitness during the third quarter valued at about $312,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Planet Fitness by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,524,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,061,000 after buying an additional 37,236 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.53% of the company’s stock.

Planet Fitness Stock Up 3.0 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of 54.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.53.

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

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.