Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG)

Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,155 shares during the period. Employers accounts for about 1.9% of Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Employers were worth $3,581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EIG. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Employers by 45.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 21,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $875,000 after buying an additional 6,808 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Employers by 83.3% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 20,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $829,000 after acquiring an additional 9,430 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Employers by 0.7% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 59,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,361,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Employers by 6.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 397,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,884,000 after acquiring an additional 24,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Employers by 5.9% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. 80.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,764 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $72,782.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $278,133.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on EIG. Janney Montgomery Scott cut Employers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Employers from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th.

Employers Price Performance

Shares of EIG traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.61. 134,358 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 123,914. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.18. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.43 and a 12 month high of $46.78.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $223.10 million for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Research analysts predict that Employers Holdings, Inc. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Employers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from Employers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Employers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.42%.

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.