Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on SIG. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $108.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target 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 Signet Jewelers from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of Signet Jewelers in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Signet Jewelers has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.60.

Signet Jewelers Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE SIG opened at $97.16 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 2.12. Signet Jewelers has a 12 month low of $72.26 and a 12 month high of $112.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $95.01 and a 200-day moving average of $91.46.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 29.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Signet Jewelers will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Signet Jewelers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.43%.

Insider Transactions at Signet Jewelers

In other news, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.63, for a total transaction of $332,066.79. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,598,848.55. This represents a 11.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joan M. Hilson sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total transaction of $756,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 200,844 shares in the company, valued at $18,993,817.08. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,957 shares of company stock valued at $5,239,306. 3.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Signet Jewelers

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Signet Jewelers by 63.3% during the second quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Signet Jewelers during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,093,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in Signet Jewelers in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,088,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Signet Jewelers by 209.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 25,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,511,000 after buying an additional 16,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 16.4% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 527,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,221,000 after buying an additional 74,380 shares during 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.