Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 448,300 shares, a decrease of 7.3% from the December 15th total of 483,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 117,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EIG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Employers from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered Employers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th.

Employers Stock Performance

EIG traded down $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $49.82. The stock had a trading volume of 132,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 125,656. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.72. Employers has a twelve month low of $38.67 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 0.27.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Employers had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 15.27%. The firm had revenue of $224.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.19 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Employers will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

Employers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Employers’s payout ratio is 22.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Employers

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EIG. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Employers by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Employers by 45.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Employers by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Employers in the 2nd quarter valued at $257,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Employers in the 2nd quarter worth $257,000. 80.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.