Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Signet Jewelers from $60.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a market perform rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Signet Jewelers in a report on Friday, March 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on Signet Jewelers from $79.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, December 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Signet Jewelers from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, December 7th. 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, Signet Jewelers has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $85.00.

Signet Jewelers Stock Performance

NYSE SIG opened at $73.30 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 11.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 2.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.60. Signet Jewelers has a 1-year low of $48.31 and a 1-year high of $84.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 16th. The company reported $5.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.35 by $0.17. Signet Jewelers had a return on equity of 46.64% and a net margin of 4.80%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.01 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Signet Jewelers will post 11.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Signet Jewelers news, CEO Virginia Drosos sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.62, for a total transaction of $736,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 925,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,120,954.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Virginia Drosos sold 10,000 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.62, for a total value of $736,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 925,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,120,954.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stash Ptak sold 1,000 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $75,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,574,975. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,570,000 over the last quarter. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Signet Jewelers

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 81.6% in the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 342.8% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp boosted its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Repertoire Partners LP purchased a new position in Signet Jewelers in the third quarter valued at $57,000. 97.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Signet Jewelers

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Signet Jewelers Ltd. engages in the retail of diamond jewelry. It operates through the following business segments: North America, International, and Others. The North America segment operates jewelry stores in malls, mall-based kiosks, and off-mall locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. The International sells primarily in the UK and Ireland under the H.