Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Has $7.53 Million Stake in Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 93,347 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in Signet Jewelers were worth $7,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 149.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Signet Jewelers by 832.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Signet Jewelers by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Signet Jewelers in the third quarter worth about $210,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on SIG shares. Cfra Research raised shares of Signet Jewelers to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Signet Jewelers from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Signet Jewelers in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Signet Jewelers Stock Down 0.6 %

SIG stock opened at $55.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $53.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.03. Signet Jewelers Limited has a 12 month low of $45.55 and a 12 month high of $112.06.

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

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. This is a boost from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio is presently -168.42%.

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.