Joan M. Hilson Sells 8,000 Shares of Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) Stock

Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) insider Joan M. Hilson sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.69, for a total transaction of $741,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 187,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,367,974.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Signet Jewelers Price Performance

Signet Jewelers stock opened at $99.42 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $100.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.27. Signet Jewelers Limited has a one year low of $57.10 and a one year high of $108.79. The firm has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 6.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.13.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $6.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.33 by $0.40. Signet Jewelers had a return on equity of 32.26% and a net margin of 11.30%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. Signet Jewelers’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. This is a positive change from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Signet Jewelers’s payout ratio is presently 6.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on Signet Jewelers from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup raised Signet Jewelers from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Signet Jewelers from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.60.

Institutional Trading of Signet Jewelers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,181,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,370,000 after acquiring an additional 31,035 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,323,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,272,000 after acquiring an additional 51,397 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,843,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,386,000 after purchasing an additional 179,321 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 2.5% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,769,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,610,000 after purchasing an additional 42,874 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,262,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,445,000 after purchasing an additional 349,771 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 Jewelers, Zales Outlet, 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.