Bailard Inc. Makes New $268,000 Investment in Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG)

Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 378.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 43,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,091,000 after purchasing an additional 34,053 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Signet Jewelers during the 3rd quarter worth $227,000. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in Signet Jewelers during the third quarter worth about $234,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Signet Jewelers by 26.6% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 719,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,645,000 after acquiring an additional 151,121 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 3.5% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 82,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,904,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Signet Jewelers

In related news, Director H. Todd Stitzer sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.09, for a total value of $1,000,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,171,551.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Signet Jewelers news, insider William Brace sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $297,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 75,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,490,736. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director H. Todd Stitzer sold 10,000 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.09, for a total value of $1,000,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 41,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,171,551.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,254 shares of company stock worth $4,669,294. 4.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SIG shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Signet Jewelers from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Signet Jewelers from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.20.

Signet Jewelers Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE SIG opened at $101.80 on Monday. Signet Jewelers Limited has a twelve month low of $57.10 and a twelve month high of $109.17. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 6.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 2.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $99.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.55.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $6.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by $0.40. Signet Jewelers had a return on equity of 32.26% and a net margin of 11.30%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 10.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.74%.

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.