Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $58.06, but opened at $59.47. Signet Jewelers shares last traded at $59.16, with a volume of 202,504 shares trading hands.

Specifically, CEO James Kevin Symancyk acquired 15,000 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $57.45 per share, with a total value of $861,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 50,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,289.50. This represents a 42.01 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SIG shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Signet Jewelers in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Cfra Research upgraded Signet Jewelers to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.60.

Signet Jewelers Price 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 firm has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 6.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 2.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.28.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $6.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.39 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.33 billion. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 28.69%. Signet Jewelers’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.73 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This is an increase from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Signet Jewelers’s payout ratio is presently -168.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SIG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,550,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,830,000 after purchasing an additional 139,109 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC raised its position in Signet Jewelers by 1,046.3% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 1,889,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,495,000 after buying an additional 1,724,592 shares during the last quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Signet Jewelers by 862.5% during the 4th quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP now owns 1,762,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,579,410 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted 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 valued at $181,122,000 after acquiring an additional 16,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,150,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,852,000 after acquiring an additional 182,948 shares during the period.

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.