Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG)

Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 4,798 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 51% compared to the average daily volume of 3,174 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on SIG shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Signet Jewelers in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.20.

Signet Jewelers Trading Up 20.7 %

NYSE:SIG traded up $9.98 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $58.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,253,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,644,725. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.81. Signet Jewelers has a 1 year low of $45.55 and a 1 year high of $112.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.72, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.55.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $6.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.39 by $0.23. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 28.69%. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Signet Jewelers will post 8.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Signet Jewelers

In other news, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.13, for a total transaction of $180,415.29. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,752 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,565.76. This trade represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Signet Jewelers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 149.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers during the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 832.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 25.5% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 263 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.