JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 126,186 Shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG - Free Report) by 158.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 205,698 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 126,186 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.83% of Employers worth $10,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Employers by 312.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Employers by 50.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Employers by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Employers by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.49% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Employers

In other Employers news, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.24, for a total transaction of $70,967.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,801 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $450,963.24. The trade was a 13.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Kroner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $52,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,167,816. The trade was a 4.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,385 shares of company stock valued at $276,267. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Employers Trading Up 0.0 %

EIG stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $48.43. The stock had a trading volume of 125,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 136,157. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 0.29. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.67 and a 52 week high of $54.44.

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

Employers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Employers's payout ratio is 25.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Employers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report 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.