Royce & Associates LP Buys 10,750 Shares of Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG)

Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,721 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,750 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.44% of Signet Jewelers worth $19,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Signet Jewelers by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers during the 3rd quarter valued at $255,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Signet Jewelers during the 3rd quarter valued at $977,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 24,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 6,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in Signet Jewelers in the third quarter worth $254,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Virginia Drosos sold 3,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.67, for a total value of $353,303.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 775,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,829,326.15. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.63, for a total transaction of $332,066.79. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,598,848.55. This trade represents a 11.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,957 shares of company stock valued at $5,239,306 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on SIG shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $108.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.60.

Signet Jewelers Price Performance

Shares of SIG stock opened at $97.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.12. Signet Jewelers Limited has a one year low of $72.26 and a one year high of $112.06. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $95.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.53.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share 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 net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 29.90%. Signet Jewelers’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Signet Jewelers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Signet Jewelers’s payout ratio is currently 13.43%.

About Signet Jewelers

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.