Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 285,900 shares, a decrease of 21.2% from the February 13th total of 363,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 139,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Insider Activity

In other Employers news, Director James R. Kroner sold 2,000 shares of Employers stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.90, for a total transaction of $101,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,295,812.20. The trade was a 7.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.24, for a total transaction of $70,967.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,801 shares in the company, valued at $450,963.24. The trade was a 13.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,385 shares of company stock valued at $276,267. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Remove Ads

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Employers

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EIG. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Employers by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Employers by 15.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Employers by 1.6% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 14,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Employers by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 9,895 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Employers by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Employers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th.

Employers Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EIG traded down $0.43 on Friday, reaching $49.66. 63,937 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 117,840. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.56 and a 200-day moving average of $49.86. Employers has a twelve month low of $38.67 and a twelve month high of $54.44.

Employers (NYSE:EIG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $216.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $221.18 million. Employers had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 13.47%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Employers will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Employers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Employers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.48%.

Employers Company Profile

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.