Boston Partners Raises Position in Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG)

Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 280,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,158 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Employers were worth $14,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EIG. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Employers in the fourth quarter worth $7,451,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Employers by 300.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,991,000 after acquiring an additional 31,131 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Employers by 181.8% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 24,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after buying an additional 15,617 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Employers by 18.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 79,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,814,000 after purchasing an additional 12,422 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of Employers by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 48,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,350,000 after buying an additional 9,138 shares during the last quarter. 80.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Employers Stock Performance

Employers stock opened at $50.10 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.56 and a 200 day moving average of $49.86. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64 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.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $216.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $221.18 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Employers Holdings, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Employers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Employers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Employers

In other news, Director James R. Kroner sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.90, for a total transaction of $101,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,295,812.20. This represents a 7.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $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 worth $276,267 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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