Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

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

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

Signet Jewelers Price Performance

Shares of Signet Jewelers stock opened at $91.80 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $96.90 and a 200-day moving average of $91.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 2.10. Signet Jewelers has a 1-year low of $72.26 and a 1-year high of $112.06.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.24 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Signet Jewelers will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Signet Jewelers Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.63, for a total transaction of $332,066.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,085 shares in the company, valued at $2,598,848.55. This represents a 11.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Virginia Drosos sold 3,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.67, for a total transaction of $353,303.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 775,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,829,326.15. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,957 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,306 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Signet Jewelers

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Signet Jewelers during the third quarter worth $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Signet Jewelers in the second quarter valued at about $51,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Signet Jewelers by 33.4% during the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Signet Jewelers during the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Signet Jewelers by 15.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 122 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.