MarineMax (NYSE:HZO) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at B. Riley

B. Riley upgraded shares of MarineMax (NYSE:HZO) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of MarineMax in a report on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of MarineMax from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised MarineMax from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MarineMax presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

MarineMax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HZO opened at $28.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $652.66 million, a PE ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 1.91. MarineMax has a one year low of $22.51 and a one year high of $38.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.28 and a 200 day moving average of $30.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.19.

MarineMax (NYSE:HZO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.31. MarineMax had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 4.96%. As a group, research analysts predict that MarineMax will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarineMax

In related news, Director Clint Moore sold 4,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.63, for a total transaction of $125,583.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,560 shares in the company, valued at $721,642.80. This represents a 14.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Anthony E. Jr. Cassella sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total value of $124,240.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,668.06. This represents a 25.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MarineMax

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HZO. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of MarineMax by 5.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,251 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarineMax during the third quarter worth about $301,000. Bfsg LLC lifted its position in MarineMax by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 4,248 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in MarineMax by 212.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 93,056 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,282,000 after buying an additional 63,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, James Investment Research Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MarineMax during the third quarter valued at about $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.85% of the company’s stock.

MarineMax Company Profile

MarineMax, Inc operates as a recreational boat and yacht retailer and superyacht services company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Retail Operations and Product Manufacturing. The company sells new and used recreational boats, including pleasure and fishing boats, mega-yachts, yachts, sport cruisers, motor yachts, e-power yachts, pontoon boats, ski boats, jet boats, and other recreational boats.