Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires 15,617 Shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) by 181.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,617 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Employers were worth $1,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EIG. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Employers by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 579,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,800,000 after purchasing an additional 3,349 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Employers by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 423,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,684,000 after buying an additional 4,479 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Employers during the 4th quarter worth about $7,451,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Employers by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 119,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,140,000 after buying an additional 2,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Employers by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 79,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,814,000 after acquiring an additional 12,422 shares during the period. 80.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Employers

In other Employers news, Director James R. Kroner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $51,500.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.24, for a total transaction of $70,967.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $450,963.24. This trade represents a 13.60 % decrease in their position. 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.

Employers Stock Performance

Shares of Employers stock opened at $50.10 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.53 and a 200-day moving average of $49.86. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.67 and a 52-week high of $54.44. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 0.21.

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

Employers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Employers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Employers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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.