UPDATE: Bank of America Upgrades Signet Jewelers to Buy on Accelerating Market Share

Bank of America raised its rating on Signet Jewelers

from Neutral to Buy and increased its price objective from $53 to $59. Bank of America commented, "We are upgrading Signet from Neutral to Buy as we expect mark share gains to accelerate in the coming quarters. The acquisition of Ultra indicates to us that management is willing to be increasingly aggressive in driving sales growth. Signet's sales will benefit from favorable industry trends (jewelry & watch sales were +5.4% September), new products, more marketing support and the acquisition of Ultra. In our view, Signet will also benefit from a gross margin (GM) tailwind on lower product costs beginning in Q4. We expect these drivers to result in multiple expansion as the potential for earnings beats rises." Signet Jewelers closed at $52.30 on Thursday.