Financial Contrast: BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) & Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.5% of Planet Fitness shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 100.0% of BJ’s Restaurants shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Planet Fitness shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.4% of BJ’s Restaurants shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Planet Fitness and BJ’s Restaurants’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Planet Fitness	16.88%	-59.46%	8.60%
BJ’s Restaurants	2.86%	12.93%	4.79%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Planet Fitness and BJ’s Restaurants, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Planet Fitness	1	9	11	1	2.55
BJ’s Restaurants	1	4	4	0	2.33

Planet Fitness currently has a consensus price target of $69.55, indicating a potential upside of 26.12%. BJ’s Restaurants has a consensus price target of $62.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.28%. Given Planet Fitness’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Planet Fitness is more favorable than BJ’s Restaurants.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Planet Fitness and BJ’s Restaurants”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Planet Fitness	$1.32 billion	3.15	$219.10 million	$2.95	18.69
BJ’s Restaurants	$1.40 billion	0.92	$48.81 million	$1.87	32.42

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

Risk and Volatility

Planet Fitness has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BJ’s Restaurants has a beta of 1.46, indicating that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Planet Fitness beats BJ’s Restaurants on 9 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 BJ’s Restaurants

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. owns and operates casual dining restaurants in the United States. Its restaurants offer pizzas, craft and other beers, appetizers, entrées, pastas, sandwiches, specialty salads, and desserts under brand name Pizookie. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc. and changed its name to BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. in August 2004. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is based in Huntington Beach, California.