Head-To-Head Survey: Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) versus Reading International (NASDAQ:RDI)

Reading International (NASDAQ:RDI) and Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Reading International and Planet Fitness, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Reading International	1	0	0	0	1.00
Planet Fitness	1	4	10	3	2.83

Planet Fitness has a consensus price target of $110.64, suggesting a potential upside of 69.17%. Given Planet Fitness’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Planet Fitness is more favorable than Reading International.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

44.7% of Reading International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of Planet Fitness shares are held by institutional investors. 32.4% of Reading International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Planet Fitness shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Reading International and Planet Fitness”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Reading International	$202.99 million	0.12	-$14.14 million	($0.62)	-1.77
Planet Fitness	$1.32 billion	3.95	$219.10 million	$2.62	24.96

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

Risk & Volatility

Reading International has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Planet Fitness has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Reading International and Planet Fitness’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Reading International	-6.96%	N/A	-3.23%
Planet Fitness	16.55%	-97.97%	8.36%

Summary

Planet Fitness beats Reading International on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Reading International

Reading International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, focuses on the ownership, development, and operation of entertainment and real property assets in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. The company operates in two segments, Cinema Exhibition and Real Estate. The Cinema Exhibition segment operates multiplex cinemas. This segment operates its cinema exhibition businesses under the Reading Cinemas, Consolidated Theatres, Angelika Film Center, State Cinema by Angelika, Angelika Anywhere, Event Cinemas, and Rialto Cinemas brands. The Real Estate segment develops, rents, or licenses retail, commercial, and live theater assets. Reading International, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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.