Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,918,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 37,988 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Employers worth $149,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Employers by 312.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Employers by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Employers by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Employers by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Employers by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. 80.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Employers Stock Performance

Employers stock opened at $46.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 0.29. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.67 and a 1 year high of $54.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.08.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last announced its earnings results 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. 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 analyst estimates of $221.18 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Employers Holdings, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Employers Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Employers’s payout ratio is 25.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of Employers stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Kroner sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,385 shares of company stock worth $276,267 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.