Empirical Finance LLC Sells 751 Shares of Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG)

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,836 shares of the company’s stock after selling 751 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Signet Jewelers were worth $955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SIG. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in Signet Jewelers by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Signet Jewelers by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Signet Jewelers during the third quarter worth $25,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Signet Jewelers by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted 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 worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period.

Signet Jewelers Stock Performance

SIG opened at $54.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.55. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 6.25, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 2.11. Signet Jewelers Limited has a 52-week low of $52.09 and a 52-week high of $112.06.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.05). Signet Jewelers had a return on equity of 28.69% and a net margin of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Signet Jewelers Limited will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Signet Jewelers Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SIG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Signet Jewelers from $87.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.20.

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.