Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Signet Jewelers from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Signet Jewelers from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $120.20.

Signet Jewelers Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:SIG opened at $102.09 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.51 and a 200-day moving average of $93.78. Signet Jewelers has a twelve month low of $57.10 and a twelve month high of $109.17. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 2.13.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $6.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.33 by $0.40. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 11.30% and a return on equity of 32.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Signet Jewelers will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Signet Jewelers

In other Signet Jewelers news, insider Oded Edelman sold 7,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.36, for a total value of $833,502.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,516,706.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director H. Todd Stitzer sold 5,000 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.41, for a total transaction of $512,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 56,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,804,393.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Oded Edelman sold 7,911 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.36, for a total value of $833,502.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,516,706.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,254 shares of company stock valued at $4,669,294 in the last 90 days. 4.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Signet Jewelers

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,905,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 394,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,300,000 after purchasing an additional 118,275 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 7.2% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 585,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39,316 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 9.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 615,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,225,000 after buying an additional 52,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Signet Jewelers during the 4th quarter worth $255,000.

Signet Jewelers Company Profile

Signet Jewelers Limited operates as a diamond jewelry retailer. It operates through three segments: North America, International, and Other. The North America segment operates jewelry stores in jewelry stores in malls, mall-based kiosks, and off-mall locations in the United States and Canada primarily under the Kay Jewelers, Kay Jewelers Outlet, Jared The Galleria Of Jewelry, Jared Vault, Zales Outlet, Zales Jewelers, Diamonds Direct, James Allen, Banter by Piercing Pagoda, and Peoples Jewellers names, as well as operates online through its digital banners, James Allen and Blue Nile.