Signet Jewelers, Dollar General: Analysts Eviscerated These 5 Companies This Week

There’s a lot of analyst noise out there, what with dozens of analysts covering any particular stock. Add to that the fact that many analyst updates only amount to minor target price updates or even just reiterations of their previous ratings, and it can be difficult to pinpoint the most relevant calls made by analysts.

In this article, we’ll wade through all of the noise to bring you five stocks that took it on the chin from analysts this week, either through a flurry of negative updates, or because of one particularly vicious one. Read on to see what analysts had to say about Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG), Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG), Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR), Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR), and BOK Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:BOKF) during the past week.

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Analysts Pile On Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG)

Analysts had a field day on Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG) following the announcement of its fiscal second quarter results on August 25. No less than eight different analysts either downgraded the stock, lowered their price target on it, or in many cases, did both. Among them were Credit Suisse, which downgraded the stock to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’ and slashed its price target on it to $80 from $95, and Deutsche Bank, which maintained a ‘Hold’ rating on it and cut its price target to $84 from $99. A lone bullish call came from Royal Bank of Canada (those Canadians are just too darn nice), which maintained an ‘Outperform’ rating on Dollar General and raised its price target on it to $103 from $90.

For the fiscal quarter ended July 29, Dollar General pulled in $5.39 billion in revenue and earned $1.08 per share, which missed estimates of $5.50 billion and $1.09 respectively. Dollar General shares crumbled by 16.9% this week in the face of its results and the litany of bearish calls. The discount retailer was in the portfolios of 53 of the 749 hedge funds in our database which filed 13F’s for the June 30 reporting period.

Rival Discount Retailer Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) Also Gets Ripped

Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) didn’t have the same flurry of analyst activity as its rival, but it did get ripped by MKM Partners after the release of its own quarterly financial results, with that firm downgrading it to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ and lowering its target price on the stock to $80 from $140. As MKM wrote in an analyst note, Dollar Tree’s sequential same-store sales growth of 1.2% was the weakest it has been since the fourth quarter of 2013, which should put pressure on a stock that has enjoyed one of the highest valuation multiples in its industry. Dollar Tree hit a 52-week high in mid-July and had been largely flat since then, until its 10.5% tumble this week.

Dollar Tree had sales of $5 billion in the second quarter, missing estimates by $90 million, and lowered its full-year sales forecast to a range of $20.69 billion-to-$20.87 billion from the previous guidance range of $20.79 billion-to-$21.08 billion. Both discount retailers were partially impacted by a reduction in food stamps coverage in some states. Charles Akre’s Akre Capital owned 4.19 million shares of Dollar Tree on June 30.

On the second page of this article, we’ll run through three other stocks that endured bearish analyst calls this week.

The Shine Comes Off Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG)

Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG) was blistered by several analysts this week after the release of underwhelming quarterly results. Citigroup downgraded its shares to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ and slashed their price target on them by $42 to $83. Cowen and Company reiterated its ‘Outperform’ rating on Signet but cut its price target on it to $96 from $130. Even Royal Bank of Canada couldn’t hold back, cutting its Signet Jewelers price target to $100 from $120. While analysts from RBC and Wells Fargo expressed some optimism about the company’s long-term potential, both expressed disappointment with the second quarter results. Signet’s Jewelers’ $1.14 per share in earnings widely missed estimates of $1.45, while its revenue of $1.38 billion was also $60 million off the mark. Signet shares shed 13.33% of their value this week. The hedge funds in our database were overweight Signet on June 30, owning 39% of its shares. However, a net total of 11 investors exited the stock during the second quarter, leaving 44 long Signet.

Analysts Are Expressly Bearish On Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR)

Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) has received no less than 11 bearish analyst calls since Wednesday, including downgrades and price target reductions from both Wedbush and Deutsche Bank. UBS also cut its price target on the apparel retailer’s stock to $10 from $16, and downgraded it to ‘Sell’ from ‘Neutral’, expressing concern that despite Express having issued lowered guidance, the company’s earnings could still miss the mark for the ongoing quarter due to deteriorating traffic and margin pressure. Comparable-store sales and e-commerce sales fell by 8% and 7% respectively during the second quarter, making for a worrying combo. Express Inc.’s shares were clobbered this week, sinking by over 29%.

BOK Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:BOKF) Not Popular With Analysts

Lastly is BOK Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:BOKF), which was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ courtesy of SunTrust Banks on Thursday, which also lowered its price target on the company’s shares to $62 from $80. In this case, the bearish call didn’t do any damage, as BOK Financial shares gained a little over 2% this week and rest comfortably above SunTrust’s new price target, at $69.03. BOK Financial has gained over 50% since late-January as fears over its exposure to energy loans have subsided somewhat as oil prices have rebounded. Nonetheless, analysts aren’t very optimistic, as not one analyst has a ‘Buy’ rating on the stock according to Yahoo Finance’s data, which shows nine with ‘Hold’ ratings, one with an ‘Underperform’ rating, and one with a ‘Sell’ rating. Ric Dillon‘s Diamond Hill Capital owned 966,843 shares of BOK Financial on June 30, one of 11 hedge funds in our database long the stock at that time.

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