Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) Stake Reduced by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) by 23.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,591 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,284 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Signet Jewelers were worth $855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 149.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Signet Jewelers by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Signet Jewelers during the third quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers in the third quarter worth about $225,000.

Insider Activity at Signet Jewelers

In other news, CEO James Kevin Symancyk purchased 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $57.45 per share, for a total transaction of $861,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 50,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,289.50. The trade was a 42.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,231,565.76. The trade was 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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Cfra Research raised shares of Signet Jewelers to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on Signet Jewelers from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Signet Jewelers has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.60.

Signet Jewelers Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE SIG opened at $55.34 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.28. Signet Jewelers Limited has a 52 week low of $45.55 and a 52 week high of $112.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.37, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.55.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.39 by $0.23. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 28.69%. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. 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 2.31%. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio is currently -168.42%.

Signet Jewelers 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.