Employers (NYSE:EIG) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

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

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

Employers Stock Up 1.3%

EIG stock opened at $42.47 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $998.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.21. Employers has a 52 week low of $38.19 and a 52 week high of $54.44.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.46). The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Employers will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Employers Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Employers

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EIG. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Employers during the first quarter worth about $9,814,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in shares of Employers by 93.1% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 264,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,459,000 after purchasing an additional 127,330 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Employers by 5,792.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 108,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,506,000 after purchasing an additional 106,879 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Employers during the second quarter worth about $3,859,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Employers by 7.1% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,067,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,082,000 after purchasing an additional 70,402 shares during the last quarter. 80.49% of the stock is 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.