MarineMax, Inc. $HZO Stake Raised by First Eagle Investment Management LLC

First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO) by 13.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 272,935 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,700 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MarineMax were worth $6,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in MarineMax by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 394,496 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,993,000 after purchasing an additional 23,390 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MarineMax by 9.5% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 10,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of MarineMax by 183.8% in the third quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 304,718 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,719,000 after buying an additional 197,336 shares during the period. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of MarineMax by 11.1% in the third quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 80,793 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,046,000 after acquiring an additional 8,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of MarineMax by 14.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 73,673 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 9,258 shares during the period. 92.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on HZO. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of MarineMax in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen raised MarineMax from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MarineMax in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MarineMax in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MarineMax in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.80.

MarineMax Stock Performance

Shares of HZO stock opened at $29.65 on Thursday. MarineMax, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.85 and a fifty-two week high of $32.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $653.19 million, a P/E ratio of -11.06 and a beta of 1.66.

MarineMax (NYSE:HZO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty retailer reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.09). MarineMax had a negative net margin of 2.46% and a positive return on equity of 1.13%. The firm had revenue of $505.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that MarineMax, Inc. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarineMax announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 4th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 15.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MarineMax Profile

MarineMax, Inc is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HZO and is one of the largest recreational boat and yacht retailers in the United States. The company markets new and used motor yachts, sailing yachts, sport boats and personal watercraft, acting as an authorized dealer for leading manufacturers. In addition to boat sales, MarineMax provides service and maintenance, parts and accessory sales, training and education, and marina operations.

Operating through a network of sales centers, service facilities and marinas, MarineMax serves coastal and inland markets across the continental U.S.