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

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

Employers Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Employers stock traded down $0.99 on Tuesday, hitting $51.09. The stock had a trading volume of 202,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 117,963. Employers has a twelve month low of $38.67 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.69. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 0.27.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.07. The company 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 analysts predict that Employers will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Employers Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Employers news, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 8,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $450,963.24. The trade was a 13.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Kroner sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.90, for a total value of $101,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,458 shares in the company, valued at $1,295,812.20. The trade was a 7.28 % 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 valued at $276,267 over the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Employers

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EIG. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Employers by 15.8% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,550,000 after buying an additional 4,415 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of Employers by 9.3% in the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 8,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Employers by 24.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 34,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after buying an additional 6,806 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Employers by 9.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 2,838 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Employers by 0.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 418,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,089,000 after buying an additional 1,296 shares during the period. 80.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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.