Life Time Group (NYSE:LTH) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LTH) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $25.07, but opened at $26.40. Life Time Group shares last traded at $25.49, with a volume of 388,789 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LTH. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Life Time Group from $21.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Northland Securities raised their target price on shares of Life Time Group from $28.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Life Time Group from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Life Time Group in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.89.

Life Time Group Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.17. The firm has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a PE ratio of 37.94, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.89.

Life Time Group (NYSE:LTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $693.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $684.13 million. Life Time Group had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 6.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.09 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Parham Javaheri sold 168,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $4,127,760.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,993,556.66. This represents a 40.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Life Time Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LTH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Life Time Group by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,658,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,728,000 after purchasing an additional 770,766 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Life Time Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,646,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,045,000 after buying an additional 46,710 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Life Time Group by 11.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,569,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,160,000 after buying an additional 356,255 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Life Time Group by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,050,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,487,000 after acquiring an additional 758,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Life Time Group by 44.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,811,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,117,000 after acquiring an additional 553,881 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.40% of the company’s stock.

Life Time Group Company Profile

Life Time Group Holdings, Inc provides health, fitness, and wellness experiences to a community of individual members in the United States and Canada. It primarily engages in designing, building, and operating of sports and athletic, professional fitness, family recreation, and spa centers in a resort-like environment, principally in suburban and urban locations of metropolitan areas.