Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 6,219 Shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 148,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,219 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Employers were worth $7,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Employers by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Employers by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Employers by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 14,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Employers by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 9,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Employers by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. 80.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Employers news, Director James R. Kroner sold 1,000 shares of Employers stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $51,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,087. This trade represents a 4.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,385 shares of Employers stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.24, for a total transaction of $70,967.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $450,963.24. The trade was a 13.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,385 shares of company stock valued at $276,267 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Employers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EIG opened at $49.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $49.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.88. Employers Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.67 and a 52-week high of $54.44.

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

Employers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Employers’s payout ratio is currently 25.48%.

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.