US Bancorp DE Decreases Stock Position in Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG)

US Bancorp DE decreased its stake in shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,008 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Employers were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Employers by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 579,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,800,000 after acquiring an additional 3,349 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Employers by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 418,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Employers by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 119,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,140,000 after buying an additional 2,768 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 12,422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Employers by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 69,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,563,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Employers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 8,801 shares in the company, valued at $450,963.24. This trade represents a 13.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Kroner sold 2,000 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,295,812.20. This represents a 7.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,385 shares of company stock valued at $276,267 in the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Employers Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE EIG opened at $48.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 0.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.77. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.67 and a 12-month high of $54.44.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.07. Employers had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 13.47%. The business had revenue of $216.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $221.18 million. Equities analysts forecast that Employers Holdings, Inc. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Employers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Employers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.