Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) Short Interest Down 24.5% in February

Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 363,000 shares, a drop of 24.5% from the January 31st total of 481,100 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 131,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Insider Activity at Employers

In related news, Director James R. Kroner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $51,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,087. This trade represents a 4.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 8,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $450,963.24. This represents a 13.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,385 shares of company stock valued at $276,267 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EIG. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Employers by 312.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Employers in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Employers by 50.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Employers during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Employers by 15.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 80.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Employers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EIG traded down $0.99 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.09. The stock had a trading volume of 202,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 117,963. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.69. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 0.27. Employers has a fifty-two week low of $38.67 and a fifty-two week high of $54.44.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last posted its quarterly 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. Employers had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 13.47%. The business had revenue of $216.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $221.18 million. Equities analysts expect that Employers will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Employers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Employers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.