D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Buys 2,747 Shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,747 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.16% of Employers worth $2,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Employers by 312.0% during the 4th 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. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Employers during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Employers by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Employers during the 4th quarter worth $230,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Employers during the 4th quarter worth $232,000. 80.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Employers Stock Performance

Shares of Employers stock opened at $48.63 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 0.56. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.57 and a 52 week high of $54.44.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.18. Employers had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 13.47%. The company had revenue of $202.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Employers Holdings, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Employers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Employers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Employers’s dividend payout ratio is 31.07%.

Insider Transactions at Employers

In other news, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.24, for a total transaction of $70,967.40. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Kroner sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $51,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,087. This represents a 4.09% 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. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.