Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 38,316 Shares of Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 210,158 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,316 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Signet Jewelers were worth $21,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 4.9% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Signet Jewelers by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Signet Jewelers by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 917 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 1.4% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 10,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $932,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Signet Jewelers from $108.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Signet Jewelers from $145.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.60.

Signet Jewelers Trading Down 0.7 %

SIG opened at $97.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 2.12. Signet Jewelers Limited has a 12 month low of $72.26 and a 12 month high of $112.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.52.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Signet Jewelers had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 8.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

Signet Jewelers Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Signet Jewelers’s payout ratio is 13.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Signet Jewelers

In other news, insider Mary Elizabeth Finn sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $640,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,745,680. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Mary Elizabeth Finn sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $640,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,745,680. 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 this hyperlink. Also, CEO Virginia Drosos sold 3,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $78,829,326.15. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,957 shares of company stock worth $5,239,306 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

Signet Jewelers 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 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.