Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Planet Fitness

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Planet Fitness by 67.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Planet Fitness during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in Planet Fitness by 1,250.0% during 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 last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Planet Fitness in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 1,139.5% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PLNT. Macquarie reduced their price target on shares of Planet Fitness from $99.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Planet Fitness from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Planet Fitness from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of Planet Fitness in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Planet Fitness in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Planet Fitness currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.17.

Planet Fitness Stock Performance

Planet Fitness stock traded up $2.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $95.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,746,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,479,334. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $101.07 and its 200 day moving average is $93.42. Planet Fitness has a 1-year low of $54.35 and a 1-year high of $110.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.54.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.08. Planet Fitness had a net margin of 14.23% and a negative return on equity of 107.97%. The business had revenue of $340.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate 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.