Ann Marie Smith Sells 1,385 Shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) Stock

Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.24, for a total value of $70,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $450,963.24. The trade was a 13.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Employers Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE EIG opened at $51.77 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.27. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.67 and a 12 month high of $54.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.56.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.07. Employers had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 13.47%. The company had revenue of $216.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $221.18 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Employers Holdings, Inc. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Employers Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Employers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Employers

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EIG. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Employers by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 4,415 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its position in Employers by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 8,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Employers by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 34,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 6,806 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Employers by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 2,838 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Employers by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 418,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares during the period. 80.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Employers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th.

About Employers

Employers Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates in the commercial property and casualty insurance industry primarily in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Employers and Cerity. It offers workers’ compensation insurance to small businesses in low to medium hazard industries under the Employers and Cerity brands.