Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.29

Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of 0.29 per share on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th.

Signet Jewelers has raised its dividend by an average of 34.0% per year over the last three years. Signet Jewelers has a payout ratio of 10.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Signet Jewelers to earn $11.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.1%.

Signet Jewelers Stock Up 5.6 %

Shares of SIG opened at $91.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $96.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.49. The company has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 2.10. Signet Jewelers has a twelve month low of $72.26 and a twelve month high of $112.06.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.05). Signet Jewelers had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 8.58%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Signet Jewelers will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SIG shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $145.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $108.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Signet Jewelers from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.60.

Insider Activity

In other Signet Jewelers news, insider Rebecca Wooters sold 22,151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $2,192,949.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 68,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,765,957. This represents a 24.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Mary Elizabeth Finn sold 3,763 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value of $347,400.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,975,114.56. The trade was a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,957 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,306 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

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.