Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Trading 3.4% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG)’s share price shot up 3.4% on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $57.87 and last traded at $58.22. 228,287 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 1,048,343 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.30.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -168.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SIG shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Signet Jewelers from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research note on Wednesday. Three 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.60.

Signet Jewelers Stock Up 3.8 %

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 cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 6.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 2.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.31.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $6.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.39 by $0.23. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.73 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 8.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.13, for a total transaction of $180,415.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,565.76. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Signet Jewelers

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,550,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,830,000 after purchasing an additional 139,109 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 1,046.3% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 1,889,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,495,000 after acquiring an additional 1,724,592 shares in the last quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 862.5% in the fourth quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP now owns 1,762,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,579,410 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,756,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,122,000 after purchasing an additional 16,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 182,948 shares during the period.

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.