Signet Jewelers Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:SIG)

Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 4,798 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 51% compared to the average daily volume of 3,174 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Signet Jewelers from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America cut their price objective on Signet Jewelers from $95.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Signet Jewelers from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Signet Jewelers in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Signet Jewelers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.60.

Signet Jewelers Price Performance

SIG stock traded up $0.90 during trading on Thursday, hitting $57.55. The stock had a trading volume of 723,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,056,983. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.63, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 2.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $55.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.66. Signet Jewelers has a twelve month low of $45.55 and a twelve month high of $112.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Eugenia Ulasewicz sold 3,333 shares of Signet Jewelers stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.13, for a total transaction of $180,415.29. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,565.76. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Signet Jewelers

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 149.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Signet Jewelers during the third quarter worth $77,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 832.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Signet Jewelers by 25.5% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period.

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.