Employers (NYSE:EIG) Shares Cross Below 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Employers Holdings Inc (NYSE:EIG) passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $45.89 and traded as low as $44.67. Employers shares last traded at $44.96, with a volume of 280,502 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EIG shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Employers in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Employers from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.00.

Employers Trading Down 8.4%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.89. The firm has a market cap of $807.48 million, a PE ratio of 26.60 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.12. Employers had a net margin of 3.49% and a return on equity of 5.82%. The firm had revenue of $189.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.46 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.10) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Employers Holdings Inc will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Employers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. Employers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Employers

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EIG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Employers in the second quarter worth approximately $130,258,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Employers by 27.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 300,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,365,000 after buying an additional 65,100 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Employers during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,135,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Employers during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,344,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Employers by 2.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 109,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123 shares during the last quarter. 80.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Employers Company Profile

Employers Holdings, Inc (NYSE:EIG) is an insurance holding company specializing in workers’ compensation coverage for small and midsize businesses. Through its insurance subsidiaries, the company provides policies designed to cover workplace injuries, related medical expenses, rehabilitation, and wage-replacement benefits.

In addition to underwriting workers’ compensation insurance, Employers offers claims management, workplace-safety and loss-control services, risk-management resources, and policyholder support.