Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 22,500 Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 22,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,413,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned about 0.05% of Signet Jewelers at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SIG. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 67.9% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 403 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in Signet Jewelers by 274.1% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 404 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 187.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 494 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers during the 1st quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director H. Todd Stitzer sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.41, for a total transaction of $512,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,804,393.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Signet Jewelers news, insider Howard A. Melnick sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $99,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 65,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,573,500.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director H. Todd Stitzer sold 5,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 56,678 shares in the company, valued at $5,804,393.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,254 shares of company stock worth $8,916,044 in the last 90 days. 4.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Signet Jewelers Trading Down 0.2 %

SIG traded down $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $96.46. 635,054 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 726,025. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $100.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.99. Signet Jewelers Limited has a 1 year low of $57.10 and a 1 year high of $109.17. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 2.13.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $6.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.33 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.55 billion. Signet Jewelers had a return on equity of 32.26% and a net margin of 11.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. Analysts forecast that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Signet Jewelers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Signet Jewelers's payout ratio is 6.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SIG has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Signet Jewelers from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Signet Jewelers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on Signet Jewelers from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $120.20.

Signet Jewelers Company 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.