Signet Jewelers, Dollar General: Analysts Eviscerated These 5 Companies 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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