Head-To-Head Comparison: Six Flags Entertainment (NYSE:FUN) & Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT)

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) and Six Flags Entertainment (NYSE:FUN) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Planet Fitness and Six Flags Entertainment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Planet Fitness	15.97%	-126.58%	8.08%
Six Flags Entertainment	-14.92%	-1.00%	-0.22%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Planet Fitness and Six Flags Entertainment, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Planet Fitness	0	3	12	1	2.88
Six Flags Entertainment	2	5	8	0	2.40

Planet Fitness presently has a consensus price target of $117.23, indicating a potential upside of 11.70%. Six Flags Entertainment has a consensus price target of $28.57, indicating a potential upside of 123.18%. Given Six Flags Entertainment’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Six Flags Entertainment is more favorable than Planet Fitness.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Planet Fitness and Six Flags Entertainment”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Planet Fitness	$1.18 billion	7.40	$172.04 million	$2.45	42.84
Six Flags Entertainment	$3.14 billion	0.41	-$231.16 million	($17.72)	-0.72

Planet Fitness has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Six Flags Entertainment. Six Flags Entertainment is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Planet Fitness, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.5% of Planet Fitness shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.7% of Six Flags Entertainment shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of Planet Fitness shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Six Flags Entertainment shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Planet Fitness has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Six Flags Entertainment has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Planet Fitness beats Six Flags Entertainment on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. It engages in the sale of fitness equipment to franchisee-owned stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In addition, the company operates corporate-owned stores in the United States and Canada. Planet Fitness, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Hampton, New Hampshire.

About Six Flags Entertainment

Cedar Fair, L.P. owns and operates amusement and water parks, as well as complementary resort facilities. Its amusement parks include Cedar Point located on Lake Erie between Cleveland and Toledo in Sandusky, Ohio; Knott's Berry Farm near Los Angeles, California; Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, Ontario; Kings Island near Cincinnati, Ohio; Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina; Kings Dominion situated near Richmond, Virginia; California's Great America located in Santa Clara, California; Dorney Park in Pennsylvania; Worlds of Fun located in Kansas City, Missouri; Valleyfair situated near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Michigan's Adventure situated near Muskegon, Michigan; Schlitterbahn Waterpark & Resort New Braunfels in New Braunfels, Texas; and Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston in Galveston, Texas. The company also owns and operates the Castaway Bay Indoor Waterpark Resort, Hotel Breakers, Cedar Point's Express Hotel, and Sawmill Creek Resort. Cedar Fair, L.P. was founded in 1983 and is based in Sandusky, Ohio.