Wall Street Zen Downgrades Employers (NYSE:EIG) to Sell

Employers (NYSE:EIG) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on EIG. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Employers in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Employers from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Employers Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE EIG opened at $40.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $787.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.52 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Employers has a 12 month low of $35.73 and a 12 month high of $51.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $43.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.95.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $170.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $217.35 million. Employers had a net margin of 1.26% and a return on equity of 2.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Employers will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael Pedraja acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.73 per share, with a total value of $79,460.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 19,830 shares in the company, valued at $787,845.90. The trade was a 11.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Employers

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EIG. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in Employers by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 6,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Employers by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 22,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Employers by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 24,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,040,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Employers by 133.5% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in Employers by 145.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.49% of the company’s stock.

About Employers

Employers Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EIG) is a publicly traded property and casualty insurance holding company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Through its subsidiaries, Employers Mutual Casualty Company and Employers Preferred Insurance Company, the firm specializes in providing workers’ compensation coverage alongside an array of commercial insurance products. Its service offerings include general liability, commercial auto, businessowners policies and umbrella coverages, tailored to meet the risk-management needs of small and mid-sized businesses across multiple industries.

The company markets its insurance solutions primarily through a network of independent agencies and brokers, leveraging local market expertise to underwrite policies that address the unique exposures faced by clients in manufacturing, construction, healthcare, retail and service sectors.