Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Lifted 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 released on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Signet Jewelers from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on Signet Jewelers from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $120.20.

Signet Jewelers Trading Up 4.9 %

NYSE:SIG opened at $100.16 on Friday. Signet Jewelers has a 12 month low of $57.10 and a 12 month high of $109.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $99.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. Signet Jewelers had a return on equity of 32.26% and a net margin of 11.30%. The business’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.52 earnings per share. 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.14%.

Insider Activity at Signet Jewelers

In other news, insider Oded Edelman sold 7,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.36, for a total transaction of $833,502.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,378 shares in the company, valued at $3,516,706.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director H. Todd Stitzer sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 56,678 shares in the company, valued at $5,804,393.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Oded Edelman sold 7,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 33,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,516,706.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,254 shares of company stock worth $4,460,394. Insiders own 4.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SIG. Eminence Capital LP purchased a new position in Signet Jewelers in the third quarter valued at $40,962,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Signet Jewelers in the fourth quarter valued at $52,976,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,262,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,445,000 after purchasing an additional 349,771 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Signet Jewelers in the third quarter valued at $19,826,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 26.6% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 719,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,645,000 after purchasing an additional 151,121 shares during the period.

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.