Public Sector Pension Investment Board Buys 36,037 Shares of Employers Holdings Inc $EIG

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Employers Holdings Inc by 58.5% in the first quarter, holding 97,607 shares valued at approximately $4.9 million by quarter's end.
• Employers Holdings recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.48, missing expectations by $0.46, although revenues exceeded estimates with $246.30 million.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32, yielding 3.1%, with the dividend payment scheduled for August 27th.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Employers Holdings Inc (NYSE:EIG - Free Report) by 58.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 97,607 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 36,037 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.41% of Employers worth $4,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Employers in the 1st quarter worth about $9,814,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Employers by 69.9% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 16,913 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Employers by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,938,058 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $148,783,000 after purchasing an additional 19,637 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Employers by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,895 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Employers by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,067,976 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,082,000 after purchasing an additional 70,402 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Employers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $58.00.

Employers Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:EIG traded up $0.1730 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.7830. The stock had a trading volume of 209,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,858. The company's 50-day moving average price is $45.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.52. Employers Holdings Inc has a fifty-two week low of $38.19 and a fifty-two week high of $54.44.

Employers (NYSE:EIG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $246.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $217.17 million. Employers had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 7.56%. Employers's quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Employers's payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

Insider Activity at Employers

In other news, EVP John M. Mutschink sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.12, for a total value of $98,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $972,035.68. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.