Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 145,451 Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 145,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,451,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.59% of Employers as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Employers by 300.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,991,000 after acquiring an additional 31,131 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Employers by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 79,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,814,000 after buying an additional 12,422 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Employers by 22.9% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 48,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,350,000 after acquiring an additional 9,138 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Employers in the third quarter valued at about $291,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Employers in the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. Institutional investors own 80.49% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Employers

In other news, Director James R. Kroner sold 1,000 shares of Employers stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,167,816. The trade was a 4.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $450,963.24. This represents a 13.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,385 shares of company stock worth $276,267 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Employers Price Performance

Shares of EIG stock traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $50.85. The stock had a trading volume of 144,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,759. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.21. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $38.67 and a one year high of $54.44. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $49.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.93.

Employers (NYSE:EIG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $216.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 predict that Employers Holdings, Inc. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Employers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Employers's payout ratio is currently 25.48%.

Employers 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.