Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Small Cap Fund” fourth-quarter 2022 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The fund was 4.24% up in the fourth quarter compared to a 4.13% return for the Russell 2000 Growth Index and a 7.56% return for the S&P 500 Index. For 2022, the fund was down 31.05% compared to a 26.36% fall for the Russell 2000 Growth Index and an 18.11% decline for the S&P 500 Index. Inflation and aggressive fed tightening impacted the fund’s performance in 2022. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2022.
Baron Small Cap Fund highlighted stocks like Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) in its Q4 2022 investor letter. Headquartered in Hampton, New Hampshire, Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) is a fitness centre operator. On February 16, 2023, Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) stock closed at $80.27 per share. One-month return of Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) was -0.25%, and its shares lost 13.57% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) has a market capitalization of $7.189 billion.
Baron Small Cap Fund made the following comment about Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) in its Q4 2022 investor letter:
“Shares of Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT), the leading franchiser and operator of low-cost fitness centers, rose after reporting strong results. The company reported system-wide same-store sales increased 8.2%, raised estimates for growth in net income, and authorized another large share repurchase. Membership grew to an all-time record, now fully recovered from the pandemic lows. New gym openings are somewhat constrained by availability of HVAC units, but we envision the pace of growth will accelerate and that the base of gyms can still double over time from 2,000 to 4,000. We believe that EBITDA can grow at a mid-teens rate long term on a declining share count and that the trading multiple can modestly expand, which will drive continued good stock performance.”
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Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 39 hedge fund portfolios held Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) at the end of the third quarter, which was 28 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) in another article and shared Carillon Tower Advisor’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2022 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
