Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG – Get Rating) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $5.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.35 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.65 billion. Signet Jewelers had a return on equity of 47.90% and a net margin of 5.18%. The company’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.01 EPS.

Signet Jewelers Trading Up 11.3 %

NYSE SIG opened at $75.52 on Friday. Signet Jewelers has a fifty-two week low of $48.31 and a fifty-two week high of $84.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.18.

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 28th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. This is a boost from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on SIG. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price target on Signet Jewelers from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on Signet Jewelers from $60.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on Signet Jewelers in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Signet Jewelers from $79.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Signet Jewelers news, CEO Virginia Drosos sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.88, for a total value of $758,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,106,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,927,756.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Stash Ptak sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $75,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,574,975. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Virginia Drosos sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.88, for a total value of $758,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,106,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,927,756.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,000 shares of company stock worth $1,570,000. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Pathstone Family Office LLC raised its stake in Signet Jewelers by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 5,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC raised its stake in Signet Jewelers by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 4,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.88% of the company’s stock.

Signet Jewelers Company Profile

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Signet Jewelers Ltd. engages in the retail of diamond jewelry. It operates through the following business segments: North America, International, and Others. The North America segment operates jewelry stores in malls, mall-based kiosks, and off-mall locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. The International sells primarily in the UK and Ireland under the H.