Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) Short Interest Up 18.8% in April

Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 365,700 shares, an increase of 18.8% from the April 15th total of 307,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 144,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EIG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Employers by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Employers during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of Employers by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 6,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Employers by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 21,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $995,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Employers by 983.8% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. 80.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Employers Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of EIG traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $42.30. 30,386 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 135,437. Employers has a 12 month low of $35.43 and a 12 month high of $46.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 0.25. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.59.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $223.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $217.46 million. Employers had a net margin of 14.16% and a return on equity of 10.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Employers will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Employers Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. This is a boost from Employers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Employers’s payout ratio is 25.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EIG shares. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Employers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Employers from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th.

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.