Royce & Associates LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Signet Jewelers Limited $SIG

Royce & Associates LP lowered its position in Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,572 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,504 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.47% of Signet Jewelers worth $15,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SIG. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 90.0% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,077,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,332,000 after purchasing an additional 510,551 shares during the period. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Signet Jewelers in the third quarter valued at about $47,837,000. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 185.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 545,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,181,000 after purchasing an additional 354,108 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 212.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 500,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,016,000 after purchasing an additional 340,228 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Street Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Signet Jewelers in the third quarter valued at about $25,328,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SIG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $126.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Signet Jewelers from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Signet Jewelers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Signet Jewelers to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.38.

Signet Jewelers Stock Performance

Shares of SIG opened at $84.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.20. Signet Jewelers Limited has a 1 year low of $64.00 and a 1 year high of $110.20. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.99.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported $6.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.11 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.33 billion. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 22.22%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 24th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio is 17.95%.

Signet Jewelers Profile

Signet Jewelers Ltd is the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelry, operating a diversified network of retail stores across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its portfolio includes well-established banners such as Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared The Galleria of Jewelry, H.Samuel, Ernest Jones, Peoples and Piercing Pagoda, offering customers a range of shopping environments from suburban malls to high-street locations.

The company’s product assortment encompasses engagement rings, wedding bands, fine fashion jewelry and timepieces, complemented by services including jewelry cleaning, repairs, appraisals and extended care plans.