Short Interest in MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO) Rises By 7.5%

MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,870,000 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the September 30th total of 1,740,000 shares. Currently, 9.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 275,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.8 days.

MarineMax Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE HZO traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.67. 65,271 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 309,273. MarineMax has a 1 year low of $22.51 and a 1 year high of $39.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.03 and a 200 day moving average of $31.05. The stock has a market cap of $639.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

MarineMax (NYSE:HZO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $563.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $576.49 million. MarineMax had a return on equity of 6.26% and a net margin of 2.00%. The company’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that MarineMax will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MarineMax

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HZO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MarineMax by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,468,991 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $48,859,000 after acquiring an additional 29,473 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of MarineMax by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,444,769 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $46,767,000 after buying an additional 110,601 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its holdings in shares of MarineMax by 140.6% in the 1st quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 1,045,514 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $34,774,000 after buying an additional 610,994 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MarineMax by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 534,023 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $18,835,000 after buying an additional 55,033 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarineMax by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 401,978 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,012,000 after buying an additional 74,451 shares during the period. 92.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HZO. Benchmark began coverage on MarineMax in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson lifted their price target on MarineMax from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on MarineMax from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on MarineMax from $35.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, B. Riley reduced their price objective on MarineMax from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MarineMax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.83.

About MarineMax

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.