Reviewing Signet Jewelers (SIG) and Its Rivals

Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) is one of 285 public companies in the “Specialty Retail” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Signet Jewelers to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, risk, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

52.0% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Signet Jewelers shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.0% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Signet Jewelers has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Signet Jewelers’ peers have a beta of 1.78, indicating that their average share price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Signet Jewelers and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Signet Jewelers	0	5	5	2	2.75
Signet Jewelers Competitors	3526	15191	21155	548	2.46

Signet Jewelers currently has a consensus target price of $112.00, suggesting a potential upside of 29.90%. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies have a potential upside of 12.24%. Given Signet Jewelers’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Signet Jewelers is more favorable than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Signet Jewelers and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Signet Jewelers	4.29%	22.54%	7.35%
Signet Jewelers Competitors	-2.02%	-28.75%	3.24%

Dividends

Signet Jewelers pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Signet Jewelers pays out 19.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.0% and pay out 35.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Signet Jewelers has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Signet Jewelers and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Signet Jewelers	$6.81 billion	$294.40 million	12.09
Signet Jewelers Competitors	$7.05 billion	$390.09 million	14.58

Signet Jewelers’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than Signet Jewelers. Signet Jewelers is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Signet Jewelers peers beat Signet Jewelers on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

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. This segment also engages in jewelry subscription business. The International segment operates stores in shopping malls and off-mall locations primarily under the H.Samuel and Ernest Jones brands in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, and Channel Islands. The Other segment is involved in the purchase and conversion of rough diamonds to polished stones, as well as the provision of diamond polishing services. Signet Jewelers Limited is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.