NFJ Investment Group LLC Makes New $2.22 Million Investment in Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG)

NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 21,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,215,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Signet Jewelers during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Signet Jewelers during the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 917 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SIG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Signet Jewelers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $145.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Signet Jewelers from $108.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.60.

Insider Activity at Signet Jewelers

In other news, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.63, for a total transaction of $332,066.79. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,598,848.55. This represents a 11.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Rebecca Wooters sold 22,151 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $2,192,949.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 68,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,765,957. The trade was a 24.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,957 shares of company stock worth $4,599,306. 3.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Signet Jewelers Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE SIG opened at $98.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 2.10. Signet Jewelers Limited has a 52 week low of $72.26 and a 52 week high of $112.06.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Signet Jewelers had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 8.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

Signet Jewelers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Signet Jewelers’s payout ratio is presently 13.43%.

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.