Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.32 Per Share

Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share on Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This is a 10.3% increase from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29.

Signet Jewelers has increased its dividend by an average of 29.0% per year over the last three years. Signet Jewelers has a payout ratio of 11.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Signet Jewelers to earn $8.91 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.0%.

Signet Jewelers Stock Performance

Shares of SIG stock opened at $56.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $54.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 6.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Signet Jewelers has a 52 week low of $45.55 and a 52 week high of $112.06.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $6.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.39 by $0.23. Signet Jewelers had a return on equity of 28.69% and a net margin of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.73 EPS. Signet Jewelers’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Signet Jewelers will post 8.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Signet Jewelers

In related news, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.13, for a total transaction of $180,415.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,565.76. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SIG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Signet Jewelers in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.60.

Signet Jewelers Company 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.