Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Now Covered by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG - Free Report) in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on SIG. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $65.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. CL King began coverage on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Signet Jewelers to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.14.

Signet Jewelers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SIG traded up $1.06 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $81.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 978,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,199,367. Signet Jewelers has a 52 week low of $45.55 and a 52 week high of $106.28. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $65.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.59.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.17. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 22.41%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Signet Jewelers will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Signet Jewelers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 25th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Signet Jewelers's dividend payout ratio is currently 139.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Kevin Symancyk acquired 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.45 per share, with a total value of $861,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 50,710 shares in the company, valued at $2,913,289.50. This trade represents a 42.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Helen Mccluskey bought 1,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $100,062.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 31,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,878,575.76. This trade represents a 5.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Signet Jewelers

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Signet Jewelers during the 1st quarter worth $598,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Signet Jewelers in the 1st quarter worth about $1,095,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 122,573 shares of the company's stock worth $7,117,000 after buying an additional 10,964 shares in the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 118.7% in the 1st quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 14,416 shares of the company's stock worth $837,000 after buying an additional 7,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 849,692 shares of the company's stock worth $49,333,000 after buying an additional 213,365 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.