Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.60.

SIG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $70.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Signet Jewelers to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Signet Jewelers in a report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Signet Jewelers Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SIG opened at $59.11 on Thursday. Signet Jewelers has a 12-month low of $45.55 and a 12-month high of $112.06. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 6.80, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. Signet Jewelers’s payout ratio is presently -168.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Signet Jewelers

In other news, CEO James Kevin Symancyk purchased 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $57.45 per share, for a total transaction of $861,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 50,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,913,289.50. The trade was a 42.01 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.13, for a total value of $180,415.29. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,565.76. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,550,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,830,000 after purchasing an additional 139,109 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 1,046.3% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 1,889,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724,592 shares in the last quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 862.5% in the 4th quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP now owns 1,762,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579,410 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,150,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,852,000 after purchasing an additional 182,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Khrom Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Khrom Capital Management LLC now owns 1,149,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,791,000 after purchasing an additional 224,339 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.