Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $104.46 and last traded at $104.03, with a volume of 144403 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $101.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PLNT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Friday, September 27th. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Planet Fitness from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Planet Fitness from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Planet Fitness from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Planet Fitness from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five investment 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.13.

Planet Fitness Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.84.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $292.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.79 million. Planet Fitness had a net margin of 14.23% and a negative return on equity of 107.97%. Planet Fitness’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Planet Fitness, Inc. will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Planet Fitness

In other Planet Fitness news, insider Jennifer Simmons sold 11,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $1,101,778.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,838,382. This trade represents a 37.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 5.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Planet Fitness

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Accurate Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,199 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Planet Fitness by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 183,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,205,000 after buying an additional 8,600 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Planet Fitness during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Planet Fitness by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. 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.