Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 145,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,451,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EIG. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Employers by 50.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Employers by 15.2% during the third 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 grew its position in shares of Employers by 61.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Employers during the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. 80.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Employers

In other news, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $450,963.24. This represents a 13.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Kroner sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,458 shares of the company’s stock, 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 5,385 shares of company stock valued at $276,267 over the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Employers Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of EIG opened at $49.14 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.89. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.21. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.67 and a 52-week high of $54.44.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $216.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $221.18 million. Employers had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 13.47%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Employers Holdings, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Employers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Employers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Employers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report 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.