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 research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on SIG. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a market perform rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Signet Jewelers in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America decreased their price target 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. Citigroup reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $119.00 price target on shares of Signet Jewelers in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, September 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Signet Jewelers Price Performance

Shares of SIG stock opened at $96.16 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.06. Signet Jewelers has a 1 year low of $67.18 and a 1 year high of $112.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 2.10.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Signet Jewelers will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

Signet Jewelers Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Oded Edelman sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.55, for a total value of $670,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,117,070.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Signet Jewelers news, insider Mary Elizabeth Finn sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.94, for a total transaction of $695,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 54,821 shares in the company, valued at $4,766,137.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Oded Edelman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.55, for a total transaction of $670,950.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 28,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,117,070.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 73,892 shares of company stock worth $6,536,982. Corporate insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Signet Jewelers

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 2.9% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 6,949,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,562,000 after purchasing an additional 193,977 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 6.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,386,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,809,000 after purchasing an additional 149,934 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 6.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,069,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,347,000 after purchasing an additional 126,726 shares during the period. Eminence Capital LP raised its stake in Signet Jewelers by 71.3% in the second quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 844,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,644,000 after buying an additional 351,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anomaly Capital Management LP raised its stake in Signet Jewelers by 12.4% in the second quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP now owns 691,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,940,000 after buying an additional 76,534 shares in the last quarter.

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.