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Should You Be Tempted To Buy Garmin Ltd (GRMN) At Its Current Price?

Garmin Ltd (NASDAQ:GRMN) trades with a trailing P/E of 15.2x, which is lower than the industry average of 16.9x. While GRMN might seem like an attractive stock to buy, it is important to understand the assumptions behind the P/E ratio before you make any investment decisions. Today, I will break down what the P/E ratio is, how to interpret it and what to watch out for. Check out our latest analysis for Garmin

Breaking down the P/E ratio

NasdaqGS:GRMN PE PEG Gauge Sep 30th 17
NasdaqGS:GRMN PE PEG Gauge Sep 30th 17

The P/E ratio is one of many ratios used in relative valuation. By comparing a stock’s price per share to its earnings per share, we are able to see how much investors are paying for each dollar of the company’s earnings.

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P/E Calculation for GRMN

Price-Earnings Ratio = Price per share ÷ Earnings per share

GRMN Price-Earnings Ratio = 54.04 ÷ 3.562 = 15.2x

The P/E ratio isn’t a metric you view in isolation and only becomes useful when you compare it against other similar companies. We want to compare the stock’s P/E ratio to the average of companies that have similar characteristics as GRMN, such as size and country of operation. A common peer group is companies that exist in the same industry, which is what I use. At 15.2x, GRMN’s P/E is lower than its industry peers (16.9x). This implies that investors are undervaluing each dollar of GRMN’s earnings. Therefore, according to this analysis, GRMN is an under-priced stock.

Assumptions to be aware of

While our conclusion might prompt you to buy GRMN immediately, there are two important assumptions you should be aware of. The first is that our “similar companies” are actually similar to GRMN, or else the difference in P/E might be a result of other factors. For example, if you compared higher growth firms with GRMN, then its P/E would naturally be lower since investors would reward its peers’ higher growth with a higher price. The second assumption that must hold true is that the stocks we are comparing GRMN to are fairly valued by the market. If this does not hold, there is a possibility that GRMN’s P/E is lower because our peer group is overvalued by the market.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? You may have already conducted fundamental analysis on the stock as a shareholder, so its current undervaluation could signal a good buying opportunity to increase your exposure to GRMN. Now that you understand the ins and outs of the PE metric, you should know to bear in mind its limitations before you make an investment decision.

Are you a potential investor? If GRMN has been on your watch list for a while, it is best you also consider its intrinsic valuation. Looking at PE on its own will not give you the full picture of the stock as an investment, so I suggest you should also look at other relative valuation metrics like EV/EBITDA or PEG.

PE is one aspect of your portfolio construction to consider when holding or entering into a stock. But it is certainly not the only factor. Take a look at our most recent infographic report on Garmin for a more in-depth analysis of the stock to help you make a well-informed investment decision. Since we know a limitation of PE is it doesn't properly account for growth, you can use our free platform to see my list of stocks with a high growth potential and see if their PE is still reasonable.


To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.