Bank of America Lowers Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Price Target to $65.00

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Bank of America from $95.00 to $65.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on SIG. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Signet Jewelers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on Signet Jewelers from $87.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Signet Jewelers from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Signet Jewelers presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.20.

Signet Jewelers Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of SIG stock traded up $0.91 on Wednesday, reaching $58.91. 3,878,257 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,661,140. Signet Jewelers has a 1-year low of $54.44 and a 1-year high of $112.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $88.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.81.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 28.69%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Signet Jewelers will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

Signet Jewelers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Signet Jewelers's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joan M. Hilson sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total transaction of $756,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 200,844 shares in the company, valued at $18,993,817.08. This trade represents a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.63, for a total transaction of $332,066.79. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,598,848.55. The trade was a 11.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.26% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Signet Jewelers

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SIG. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in Signet Jewelers by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 6,949,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $622,562,000 after purchasing an additional 193,977 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 6.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,386,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $213,809,000 after acquiring an additional 149,934 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 6.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,069,071 shares of the company's stock worth $185,347,000 after acquiring an additional 126,726 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,756,075 shares of the company's stock worth $181,122,000 after acquiring an additional 16,912 shares during the period. Finally, Eminence Capital LP lifted its position in Signet Jewelers by 71.3% in the 2nd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 844,428 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,644,000 after purchasing an additional 351,588 shares during 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.