Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) Shares Purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG - Free Report) by 158.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,698 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 126,186 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.83% of Employers worth $10,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EIG. FMR LLC grew its position 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 valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Employers by 1.6% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 14,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Employers by 22.9% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 48,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,350,000 after purchasing an additional 9,138 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Employers by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,806 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Employers by 300.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 31,131 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.49% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Employers

In related news, Director James R. Kroner sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $51,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,458 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,087. This trade represents a 4.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of Employers stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.24, for a total value of $70,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,801 shares in the company, valued at $450,963.24. This represents a 13.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,385 shares of company stock valued at $276,267. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Employers Stock Performance

Employers stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $48.43. 125,095 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 136,179. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $49.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.06. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.67 and a 12-month high of $54.44. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 0.29.

Employers (NYSE:EIG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Employers had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 13.47%. The firm had revenue of $216.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $221.18 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Employers Holdings, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Employers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. Employers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Employers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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.