Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 15,849 Shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its position in shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 233,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,849 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.94% of Employers worth $11,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Employers by 312.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Employers by 50.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Employers by 15.2% in the third 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. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Employers by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Employers by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James R. Kroner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $51,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,087. This trade represents a 4.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $450,963.24. This represents a 13.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,385 shares of company stock valued at $276,267. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Employers Trading Down 0.8 %

EIG stock opened at $50.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.95. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.67 and a 1 year high of $54.44.

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

Employers Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Employers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Employers 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.