Planet Fitness was just downgraded to "market perform"
The shares of Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT) are down 0.5% at $85.60 this morning, following a bear note from Cowen and Company. The analyst downgraded PLNT to "market perform" from "outperform," forecasting weak near-term member growth as a driver for negative same-store sales in the first half of 2021.
This downgrade comes just one day after Berenberg lifted its price target to $91 from $64, though it looks like several members of the brokerage bunch are still hesitant on the gym concern. While the majority considered PLNT a "strong buy" coming into today, five of the 13 in coverage called it a "hold" or worse. Plus, the 12-month consensus price-target of $84..77 represents a slight discount to last night's close.
A look at PLNT's price performance over the past year shows the equity staging a solid rebound off its early August dip to the $50 level. The shares had plenty of help from their 80-day moving average, which captured several pullbacks since then, and eventually pushed the stock to a record high of $90.34 on Feb. 25. While the security has been cooling since that peak, the equity's ascending 10-day moving average could emerge as a solid leg of support for today's dip.
The options pits have taken a slightly more optimistic stance on Planet Fitness. This is per the equity's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.00 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio stands higher than 72% of readings from the past year, suggesting calls are being picked up at a quicker-than-usual clip of late.