Vanguard Group Inc. Has $388.71 Million Position in Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,816,112 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,337 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Signet Jewelers worth $388,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SIG. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,150,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,852,000 after acquiring an additional 182,948 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 309,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,950,000 after purchasing an additional 76,966 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 36.3% during the fourth 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. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Signet Jewelers during the fourth quarter worth $2,418,000. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Signet Jewelers in the third quarter valued at $2,215,000.

Signet Jewelers Stock Performance

NYSE SIG opened at $60.58 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.16. Signet Jewelers Limited has a 12-month low of $45.55 and a 12-month high of $112.06. The company has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 2.20.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $6.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.39 by $0.23. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 28.69%. The company had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -168.42%.

Insider Activity at Signet Jewelers

In other news, CEO James Kevin Symancyk bought 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $57.45 per share, with a total value of $861,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 50,710 shares in the company, valued at $2,913,289.50. This represents a 42.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were 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 directly owns 22,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,565.76. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SIG. Cfra Research upgraded Signet Jewelers to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on Signet Jewelers from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.60.

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.