Planet Fitness
stock has been benched in 2023, but CEO Chris Rondeau just scooped up shares of the fitness-center chain.
Planet Fitness stock (ticker: PLNT) had been moderately higher for 2023 when a disappointing first-quarter report in early May sent shares tumbling. President and Chief Operating Officer Edward Hymes, who joined the company in December, left effective May 31, and the company said it doesn’t plan to fill the post “at this time.”
Planet Fitness stock now sports a year-to-date loss of 15%.
Buying stock on the open market is one tactic that executives can use to restore investor confidence after light numbers or a boardroom shakeup, or both. On Monday, Rondeau pulled that lever, paying $650,000 for 10,000 shares, an average price of $64.99 each. He purchased the shares through a trust that now owns 36,305 shares.
Planet Fitness didn’t respond to a request to make Rondeau available for comment on his stock purchases. Rondeau, whose first job at Planet Fitness was behind a front desk at the first location 30 years ago, last bought stock on the open market in March 2020 when he bought $4 million of shares.
Shares rose last week, but there may have been more behind that than Rondeau’s stock purchase. S&P Dow Jones Indices said on June 2 that Planet Fitness will join the
S&P MidCap 400
index in the consumer discretionary category, effective June 19. Stocks typically get a bump when they join an index because investors anticipate funds that track those indexes will buy those shares.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.
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