Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Here's What Happened

Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $59.67 and last traded at $61.08, with a volume of 1429714 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SIG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Signet Jewelers from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Signet Jewelers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.60.

Signet Jewelers Stock Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.13. The firm's 50-day moving average is $88.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.04.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.05). The business 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

Signet Jewelers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Signet Jewelers's payout ratio is 13.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Signet Jewelers news, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.63, for a total transaction of $332,066.79. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,085 shares in the company, valued at $2,598,848.55. This represents a 11.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joan M. Hilson sold 8,000 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total value of $756,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 200,844 shares in the company, valued at $18,993,817.08. The trade was a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,570 shares of company stock worth $1,512,750. 3.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Signet Jewelers during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Signet Jewelers in the second quarter valued at about $51,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Signet Jewelers during the third quarter worth about $77,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in Signet Jewelers by 177.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 263 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.