State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Raises Holdings in Employers Holdings Inc $EIG

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in Employers Holdings Inc by 19.4% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 50,495 shares valued at approximately $2.56 million.
• Employers announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 3.0% and a payout ratio of 31.22%.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.48 per share, which fell short of analyst expectations, but its revenue grew by 13.5% year-over-year to $246.3 million.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Employers Holdings Inc (NYSE:EIG - Free Report) by 19.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,202 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.21% of Employers worth $2,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Employers by 5,792.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 108,724 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,506,000 after acquiring an additional 106,879 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Employers by 121.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 51,742 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,651,000 after acquiring an additional 28,343 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Employers during the 1st quarter worth approximately $860,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Employers by 439.5% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 50,669 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,566,000 after acquiring an additional 41,277 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Employers by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,067,976 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,082,000 after acquiring an additional 70,402 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.49% of the company's stock.

Employers Stock Performance

Shares of Employers stock traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.38. The company had a trading volume of 143,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 238,875. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.68 and a 200 day moving average of $47.44. Employers Holdings Inc has a 52-week low of $38.19 and a 52-week high of $54.44.

Employers (NYSE:EIG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $246.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $217.17 million. Employers had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 11.37%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Employers Holdings Inc will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

Employers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Employers from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Employers currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Employers Company 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.