Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $119.00 target price on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Signet Jewelers from $108.00 to $100.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a market perform rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $145.00 to $132.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Signet Jewelers from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $108.60.

Signet Jewelers Price Performance

NYSE:SIG opened at $96.16 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.11. Signet Jewelers has a 1-year low of $67.18 and a 1-year high of $112.06. The firm has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 2.10.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.11. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 29.90%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Signet Jewelers will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Signet Jewelers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Signet Jewelers’s payout ratio is presently 9.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Signet Jewelers

In other news, insider Rebecca Wooters sold 22,151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $2,192,949.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 68,343 shares in the company, valued at $6,765,957. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Rebecca Wooters sold 22,151 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $2,192,949.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 68,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,765,957. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Virginia Drosos sold 3,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.67, for a total value of $353,303.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 775,345 shares in the company, valued at $78,829,326.15. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 73,892 shares of company stock worth $6,536,982. Insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Signet Jewelers

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Signet Jewelers during the 4th quarter worth approximately $913,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Signet Jewelers by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Signet Jewelers by 303.0% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 9,661 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 25,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 452,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,308,000 after purchasing an additional 58,400 shares during the period.

About Signet Jewelers

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.