Town Sports International Holdings Inc. Stock Downgraded (CLUB)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Town Sports International Holdings (Nasdaq:CLUB) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its notable return on equity, revenue growth and impressive record of earnings per share growth. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including generally poor debt management, poor profit margins and weak operating cash flow.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Compared to other companies in the Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure industry and the overall market, TOWN SPORTS INTL HOLDINGS's return on equity significantly exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.
• CLUB's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 0.6%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 5.3%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share.
• Powered by its strong earnings growth of 128.57% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 49.50% over the past year, outperforming the rise in the S&P 500 Index during the same period. Setting our sights on the months ahead, however, we feel that the stock's sharp appreciation over the last year has driven it to a price level which is now relatively expensive compared to the rest of its industry. The implication is that its reduced upside potential is not good enough to warrant further investment at this time.
• The gross profit margin for TOWN SPORTS INTL HOLDINGS is rather low; currently it is at 24.80%. Regardless of CLUB's low profit margin, it has managed to increase from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, CLUB's net profit margin of 3.10% is significantly lower than the same period one year prior.
• The debt-to-equity ratio is very high at 50.67 and currently higher than the industry average, implying that there is very poor management of debt levels within the company. To add to this, CLUB has a quick ratio of 0.59, this demonstrates the lack of ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs.

Town Sports International Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates fitness clubs in the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The company has a P/E ratio of 33, equal to the average leisure industry P/E ratio and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Town Sports International has a market cap of $275.2 million and is part of the services sector and leisure industry. Shares are up 63.9% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

You can view the full Town Sports International Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

-- Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff

TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

For more information on Town Sports International Holdings Inc. click any of the following:

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• Town Sports International Holdings Inc. Ratio Comparison

• Town Sports International Holdings Inc. Growth Rates

• Town Sports International Holdings Inc. Balance Sheet

• Town Sports International Holdings Inc. Cash Flow

• Town Sports International Holdings Inc. Income Statement