BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI – Get Free Report) and Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT – Get Free Report) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings and risk.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for BJ’s Restaurants and Planet Fitness, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| BJ’s Restaurants | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2.27 |
| Planet Fitness | 1 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 2.55 |
BJ’s Restaurants presently has a consensus target price of $56.50, suggesting a potential downside of 9.64%. Planet Fitness has a consensus target price of $69.55, suggesting a potential upside of 30.08%. Given Planet Fitness’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Planet Fitness is more favorable than BJ’s Restaurants.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
100.0% of BJ’s Restaurants shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of Planet Fitness shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of BJ’s Restaurants shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Planet Fitness shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Risk and Volatility
BJ’s Restaurants has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Planet Fitness has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares BJ’s Restaurants and Planet Fitness”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| BJ’s Restaurants | $1.40 billion | 0.95 | $48.81 million | $1.87 | 33.44 |
| Planet Fitness | $1.41 billion | 2.87 | $219.10 million | $2.95 | 18.13 |
Planet Fitness has higher revenue and earnings 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.
Profitability
This table compares BJ’s Restaurants and Planet Fitness’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| BJ’s Restaurants | 2.86% | 12.93% | 4.79% |
| Planet Fitness | 16.88% | -59.46% | 8.60% |
Summary
Planet Fitness beats BJ’s Restaurants on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
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.
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