Hedge Funds Are Betting On Planet Fitness Inc (PLNT)

As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Columbus Circle Investors, led by Principal Global Investors, created the most outsized position in Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT). Columbus Circle Investors had $7.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital also made a $4.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new PLNT investors: Ben Levine, Andrew Manuel and Stefan Renold’s LMR Partners, Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO), Golar LNG Limited (USA) (NASDAQ:GLNG), Parkway Properties Inc (NYSE:PKY), and Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA). All of these stocks’ market caps are closest to PLNT’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $196 million. That figure was $93 million in PLNT’s case. Golar LNG Limited (USA) (NASDAQ:GLNG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Parkway Properties Inc (NYSE:PKY) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard GLNG might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None