Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Barclays upped their price target on Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut Garmin from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and dropped their price target for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $156.83.

Garmin Price Performance

GRMN opened at $168.52 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin has a 1-year low of $99.61 and a 1-year high of $179.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $165.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.86.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.09% and a net margin of 24.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Garmin will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.31%.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total value of $379,830.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,256.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $674,683.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,551,530.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total transaction of $379,830.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,256.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Garmin

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GRMN. Hamel Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hamel Associates Inc. now owns 5,523 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Garmin by 3.3% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 100,359 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $16,350,000 after purchasing an additional 3,194 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Garmin by 1.2% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,242 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Garmin in the second quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 57.3% in the second quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 16,112 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,625,000 after buying an additional 5,867 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

About Garmin

Garmin Ltd. designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of wireless devices worldwide. Its Fitness segment offers running and multi-sport watches; cycling products; smartwatch devices; scales and monitors; and fitness accessories. This segment also provides Garmin Connect and Garmin Connect Mobile, which are web and mobile platforms where users can track and analyze their fitness, activities and workouts, and wellness data; and Connect IQ, an application development platform.