Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $120.20.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SIG. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Signet Jewelers

In other Signet Jewelers news, insider Oded Edelman sold 7,911 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,516,706.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director H. Todd Stitzer sold 10,000 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.09, for a total transaction of $1,000,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,171,551.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Oded Edelman sold 7,911 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.36, for a total transaction of $833,502.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,516,706.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,254 shares of company stock worth $5,075,854 in the last quarter. 4.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Signet Jewelers

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Signet Jewelers by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $883,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Signet Jewelers by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 157,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,807,000 after buying an additional 1,784 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP increased its stake in Signet Jewelers by 85.0% during the 1st quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,000 after buying an additional 2,719 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Signet Jewelers by 44.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 11,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after buying an additional 3,594 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Signet Jewelers by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 87,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,756,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the period.

Signet Jewelers Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Signet Jewelers stock opened at $94.56 on Thursday. Signet Jewelers has a 12-month low of $57.10 and a 12-month high of $109.17. The stock has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 6.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $98.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.79.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last issued its 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. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 11.30% and a return on equity of 32.26%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Signet Jewelers will post 10.6 EPS 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 dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. This is a positive change from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.74%.

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.