Oppenheimer Maintains Life Time Fitness (LTM) Outperform Rating

Oppenheimer & Co. analysts Brian Nagel and Rupesh Parikh maintained their Outperform rating for shares of Life Time Fitness Inc LTM, with a price target of $46.00 per share. The analysts said that Life Time Fitness Inc management told them on a recent visit that the company remained focused on free cash flow generation, de-leveraging its balance sheet and exploring new growth opportunities. They also noted that Life Time Fitness Inc performed well during the recent economic downturn and that the company maintained significant profitability. The Oppenheimer & Co. analysts wrote, "Life Time Fitness represents one of the most compelling investment ideas among small/mid-cap consumer stocks, in our view. Last week we traveled with senior management to meet clients in Europe. We remain encouraged by the aggressive steps that LTM is undertaking to enhance the company's operating model. LTM is increasingly well positioned to capitalize upon easing macro pressures. In our view, the market continues to mis-characterize LTM as "just another gym." Through the recent economic downturn, sales and profit trends at LTM held up remarkably well and easily outpaced those of other highly regarded chains, while management demonstrated an ability to quickly slow discretionary growth spending and generate substantial cash. Our $46 PT suggests upside potential of nearly 25%."