Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $2.48 Million Stock Holdings in Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,111 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,414 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.05% of Signet Jewelers worth $2,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in Signet Jewelers by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 394,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,300,000 after purchasing an additional 118,275 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Signet Jewelers by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 585,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39,316 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Signet Jewelers by 9.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 615,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,225,000 after buying an additional 52,104 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Signet Jewelers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Signet Jewelers in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,671,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider William Brace sold 3,000 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $297,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 75,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,490,736. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Signet Jewelers news, insider William Brace sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $297,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 75,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,490,736. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Oded Edelman sold 7,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.36, for a total transaction of $833,502.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,516,706.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,254 shares of company stock worth $5,461,294 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.54% of the company’s stock.

Signet Jewelers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SIG opened at $98.57 on Thursday. Signet Jewelers Limited has a 52 week low of $57.10 and a 52 week high of $109.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $99.91 and its 200 day moving average is $92.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.58, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.13.

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

Signet Jewelers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is an increase from Signet Jewelers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Signet Jewelers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SIG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut their target price on Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Signet Jewelers from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Signet Jewelers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Signet Jewelers currently has a consensus 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.