Contrasting Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) & Flight Centre (OTCMKTS:FGETF)

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.5% of Planet Fitness shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.9% of Planet Fitness shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Planet Fitness has a beta of 1.28, suggesting that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flight Centre has a beta of -0.04, suggesting that its stock price is 104% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Planet Fitness and Flight Centre”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Planet Fitness	$1.18 billion	7.75	$172.04 million	$2.45	44.86
Flight Centre	$1.80 billion	0.99	$70.90 million	N/A	N/A

Planet Fitness has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Flight Centre.

Profitability

This table compares Planet Fitness and Flight Centre’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%
Flight Centre	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Planet Fitness and Flight Centre, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Planet Fitness	0	3	11	2	2.94
Flight Centre	0	0	1	1	3.50

Planet Fitness presently has a consensus target price of $119.92, suggesting a potential upside of 9.11%. Given Planet Fitness’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Planet Fitness is more favorable than Flight Centre.

Summary

Planet Fitness beats Flight Centre on 10 of the 13 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 Flight Centre

Flight Centre Travel Group Limited provides travel retailing services for the leisure and corporate sectors in Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and internationally. The company offers leisure travel services for the niche sectors, as well as mass, youth, premium, and cruise markets; and corporate travel services for organizations of various sizes across industries, as well as supplies products to its national and international network, or travel retail outlets. It also provides tour operations, hotel management, and destination management services. In addition, the company offers other travel related services, including foreign currency exchange and travel academies; recruitment marketing and bike retailing; and employee benefit services. It provides its services primarily under the Flight Centre brand, as well as other travel brands, such as Student Flights, Travel Associates, Liberty Travel, Infinity Holidays, GOGO Vacations, FCm Travel Solutions, Corporate Traveller, Stage and Screen, and cievents. The company was formerly known as Flight Centre Limited and changed its name to Flight Centre Travel Group Limited in November 2013. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in South Brisbane, Australia.