Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

SIG has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America cut their target price on 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, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Signet Jewelers from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $120.20.

Signet Jewelers Stock Performance

Shares of Signet Jewelers stock opened at $101.80 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $99.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.39. Signet Jewelers has a 1 year low of $57.10 and a 1 year high of $109.17. The company has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.79, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 2.13.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $6.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 11.30% and a return on equity of 32.26%. Signet Jewelers’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Signet Jewelers will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Signet Jewelers’s payout ratio is 7.74%.

Insider Transactions at Signet Jewelers

In related news, Director H. Todd Stitzer sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.09, for a total value of $1,000,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,171,551.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Joan M. Hilson sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.69, for a total value of $741,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 187,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,367,974.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director H. Todd Stitzer sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,171,551.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,254 shares of company stock valued at $4,669,294 in the last 90 days. 4.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Signet Jewelers by 37.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers during the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 55.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust acquired a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers during the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Channel Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers during the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000.

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.