Should You Buy MarineMax, Inc. (HZO)?

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MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO) investors should be aware of an increase in enthusiasm from smart money of late.

In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are seen as unimportant, old financial vehicles of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds with their doors open at the moment, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the top tier of this club, around 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on most of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by tracking their highest performing stock picks, we have determined a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have trumped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).

MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO)

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. Obviously, there are plenty of stimuli for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a gander at the key action regarding MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO).

Hedge fund activity in MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO)

Heading into Q2, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 43% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the biggest position in MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO). Royce & Associates has a $13.6 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot 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. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro’s PAR Capital Management, John Murphy’s Alydar Capital and Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital.

Now, some big names have jumped into MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO) headfirst. Impala Asset Management, managed by Robert Bishop, initiated 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 initiated a $4.6 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Mark Broach’s Manatuck Hill Partners, Phil Frohlich’s Prescott Group Capital Management, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

What have insiders been doing with MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year 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 review 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). All of these stocks are in the specialty retail, other industry and their market caps match HZO’s market cap.

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