Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $95.20.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on Signet Jewelers from $87.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut Signet Jewelers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Signet Jewelers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 36.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 132,070 shares of the company's stock worth $10,704,000 after buying an additional 35,174 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,853,000. Meritage Portfolio Management acquired a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers in the 4th quarter valued at about $648,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $977,000. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,547,000.

Signet Jewelers Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE SIG traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $54.80. 1,125,640 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,842,768. The business's 50-day moving average is $71.55 and its 200-day moving average is $83.76. Signet Jewelers has a twelve month low of $52.09 and a twelve month high of $112.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 2.11.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.05). Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 28.69%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Signet Jewelers will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Signet Jewelers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Signet Jewelers's payout ratio is 13.35%.

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.