Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.29 Per Share

Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 20th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of 0.29 per share on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23.

Signet Jewelers has raised its dividend payment by an average of 34.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Signet Jewelers has a payout ratio of 9.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Signet Jewelers to earn $12.07 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 9.6%.

Signet Jewelers Stock Performance

Signet Jewelers stock opened at $100.16 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $99.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 2.13. Signet Jewelers has a fifty-two week low of $57.10 and a fifty-two week high of $109.17.

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $6.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.33 by $0.40. Signet Jewelers had a net margin of 11.30% and a return on equity of 32.26%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Signet Jewelers will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Signet Jewelers

In related news, insider Joan M. Hilson sold 8,000 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $792,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 207,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,565,567. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director H. Todd Stitzer sold 5,000 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.41, for a total value of $512,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 56,678 shares in the company, valued at $5,804,393.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joan M. Hilson sold 8,000 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $792,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 207,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,565,567. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,254 shares of company stock valued at $4,460,394 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SIG shares. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Signet Jewelers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on shares of Signet Jewelers from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Signet Jewelers from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.20.

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.