Employers (NYSE:EIG) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Employers (NYSE:EIG) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered Employers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Employers presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.00.

Employers Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE EIG opened at $42.41 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $996.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.50. Employers has a 52 week low of $38.19 and a 52 week high of $54.44.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.46). The business had revenue of $246.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $217.17 million. Employers had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 11.37%.The business’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Employers will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

Employers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. Employers’s payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Employers by 133.5% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Employers in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Employers by 16.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Employers by 179.6% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Employers by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. 80.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.