Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 507,857 Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 507,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,989,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.17% of Signet Jewelers at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SIG. State Street Corp raised its position in Signet Jewelers by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,756,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,122,000 after purchasing an additional 16,912 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,150,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,852,000 after buying an additional 182,948 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Signet Jewelers by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 676,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,583,000 after buying an additional 6,393 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Signet Jewelers by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 338,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,300,000 after acquiring an additional 6,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Signet Jewelers by 1.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 310,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,238 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SIG. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Signet Jewelers to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.60.

Signet Jewelers Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SIG opened at $54.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $54.31 and its 200 day moving average is $76.63. The company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 6.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Signet Jewelers Limited has a 1 year low of $45.55 and a 1 year high of $112.06.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $6.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.39 by $0.23. Signet Jewelers had a return on equity of 28.69% and a net margin of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 8.73 EPS for the current year.

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is a boost from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -168.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Kevin Symancyk purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $57.45 per share, for a total transaction of $861,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 50,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,913,289.50. This trade represents a 42.01 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.13, for a total value of $180,415.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,565.76. This trade represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

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.