MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. HZO shareholders have witnessed an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with HZO positions at the end of the previous quarter.
To the average investor, there are plenty of gauges shareholders can use to track the equity markets. A couple of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can beat the market by a significant amount (see just how much).
Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are many stimuli for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a look at the recent action encompassing MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO).
How are hedge funds trading MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 43% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.
According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO), worth close to $13.6 million, accounting for less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Impala Asset Management, managed by Robert Bishop, which held a $10.3 million position; 0.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro’s PAR Capital Management, John Murphy’s Alydar Capital and Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Impala Asset Management, managed by Robert Bishop, established the biggest position in MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO). Impala Asset Management had 10.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Murphy’s Alydar Capital also made a $4.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new HZO positions are Mark Broach’s Manatuck Hill Partners, Phil Frohlich’s Prescott Group Capital Management, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
How are insiders trading MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time frame, MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO). These stocks are West Marine, Inc. (NASDAQ:WMAR), TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSE:TA), Winmark Corporation (NASDAQ:WINA), Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED), and 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS). This group of stocks belong to the specialty retail, other industry and their market caps match HZO’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| West Marine, Inc. (NASDAQ:WMAR) | 10 | 0 | 5 |
| TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSE:TA) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Winmark Corporation (NASDAQ:WINA) | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) | 13 | 0 | 1 |
| 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS) | 10 | 0 | 2 |
With the results exhibited by our tactics, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO) is an important part of this process.
