Dean Capital Management Purchases 8,618 Shares of Employers Holdings Inc $EIG

Key Points

• Dean Capital Management increased its stake in Employers Holdings Inc. by 22.2% in Q1, owning 47,404 shares valued at approximately $2.4 million.
• Employers missed earnings estimates with reported EPS of $0.48, falling short of the consensus of $0.94, while revenue was up 13.5% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.0%, with a dividend payout ratio of 31.22%.

Dean Capital Management increased its position in Employers Holdings Inc (NYSE:EIG - Free Report) by 22.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 47,404 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,618 shares during the period. Employers accounts for 1.0% of Dean Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Dean Capital Management owned 0.20% of Employers worth $2,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Employers by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,561 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Employers by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 506,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,364 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Employers by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 31,078 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 2,986 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Employers by 89.4% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 12,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Employers during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,135,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.49% of the company's stock.

Employers Stock Performance

Shares of EIG traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $41.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 124,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,238. Employers Holdings Inc has a one year low of $38.19 and a one year high of $54.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $983.78 million, a PE ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.53. The stock's 50-day moving average is $43.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.84.

Employers (NYSE:EIG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.46). Employers had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 7.56%. The business had revenue of $246.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $217.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Employers Holdings Inc will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Employers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. Employers's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Employers from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Employers has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $58.00.

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.