Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,760,000 shares, an increase of 36.2% from the February 13th total of 4,230,000 shares. Currently, 7.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PLNT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Planet Fitness in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Planet Fitness in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Planet Fitness from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Planet Fitness in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Planet Fitness from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.17.

Institutional Trading of Planet Fitness

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Planet Fitness in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 1,250.0% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 486 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Planet Fitness in the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 1,139.5% in the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 533 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. 95.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Planet Fitness Price Performance

NYSE PLNT traded up $2.98 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $98.49. 1,447,279 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,473,417. The firm has a market cap of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 52.95, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.54. Planet Fitness has a 52-week low of $54.35 and a 52-week high of $110.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.62.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $340.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.57 million. Planet Fitness had a net margin of 14.23% and a negative return on equity of 107.97%. Planet Fitness’s revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Planet Fitness will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal 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.