NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Signet Jewelers was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" by Sterne Agee Friday. The analyst firm set a price target of $120 for the company. The upgrade is due to Signet's recent acquisition of Zale . Sterne Agee notes that the deal should add to the company's earnings. ----------- Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates SIGNET JEWELERS LTD as a Buy with a ratings score of B+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate SIGNET JEWELERS LTD (SIG) a BUY. This is driven by a few notable strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: SIG's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 6.8%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 7.7%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share. SIG's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.02 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. To add to this, SIG has a quick ratio of 1.52, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs. Compared to its closing price of one year ago, SIG's share price has jumped by 27.24%, exceeding the performance of the broader market during that same time frame. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, SIG should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year. SIGNET JEWELERS LTD' earnings per share from the most recent quarter came in slightly below the year earlier quarter. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, SIGNET JEWELERS LTD increased its bottom line by earning $4.36 versus $3.72 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($4.53 versus $4.36). The company's current return on equity has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. Compared to other companies in the Specialty Retail industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, SIGNET JEWELERS LTD has underperformed in comparison with the industry average, but has exceeded that of the S&P 500. You can view the full analysis from the report here: SIG Ratings Report