UPDATE: Stifel Downgrades Life Time Fitness to Hold, Removes PT as Risk/Reward Appears Geared to Downside

In a report published Tuesday, Stifel analyst Steven Wieczynski downgraded the rating on

from Buy to Hold, and removed the $56.00 price target. In the report, Stifel noted, “We are downgrading shares of LTM from Buy to Hold (Street covers with 4 Buys and 4 Holds), as we believe the risk/reward tradeoff is geared to the downside at current levels. Recall, LTM is currently considering the strategic separation of its real estate and operating assets into an Operating Company (Opco) and a separately traded REIT (Propco). As a result, shares currently trade at an over two-turn valuation premium of 17.2x CY15E EPS versus a trailing five-year historical average of 14.9x. While we view the valuation premium as justified based on our belief that a pro-forma sum-of-the-parts could be worth $60 to $70, we have a tough time identifying enough of an incremental upside opportunity based on core fundamentals over the next 12 months to maintain our Buy rating.” Life Time Fitness closed on Monday at $56.71.