Swiss National Bank Sells 900 Shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 48,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Employers were worth $2,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Employers by 300.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,991,000 after buying an additional 31,131 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Employers by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Employers by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 79,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,814,000 after acquiring an additional 12,422 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Employers by 22.9% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 48,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,350,000 after purchasing an additional 9,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Employers by 1.6% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Employers

In other Employers news, Director James R. Kroner sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.90, for a total value of $101,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,295,812.20. This represents a 7.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.24, for a total transaction of $70,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,801 shares of the company’s stock, 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 quarter, insiders sold 5,385 shares of company stock valued at $276,267. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Employers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th.

Employers Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Employers stock opened at $50.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.21. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.68 and a 200 day moving average of $49.93. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.67 and a 52 week high of $54.44.

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

Employers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Employers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.48%.

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.