Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SIG. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Signet Jewelers from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. 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. Bank of America decreased 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Signet Jewelers presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $120.20.

Signet Jewelers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SIG opened at $95.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.37, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.13. Signet Jewelers has a 1-year low of $57.10 and a 1-year high of $109.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $100.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.17.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $6.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.55 billion. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 11.30% and a return on equity of 32.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Signet Jewelers will post 10.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This is an increase from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Signet Jewelers news, Director H. Todd Stitzer sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.41, for a total value of $512,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 56,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,804,393.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Signet Jewelers news, Director H. Todd Stitzer sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.41, for a total value of $512,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 56,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,804,393.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider William Brace sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $297,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 75,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,490,736. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,254 shares of company stock worth $5,558,494 in the last quarter. 4.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 6,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 2,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 156 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.