Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.32

Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 2nd, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This is a 6.7% increase from Employers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Employers has raised its dividend by an average of 5.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 4 years. Employers has a dividend payout ratio of 36.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Employers to earn $3.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.1%.

Employers Trading Up 0.5%

EIG opened at $49.56 on Monday. Employers has a twelve month low of $40.57 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $48.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.08.

Employers (NYSE:EIG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.18. Employers had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 8.99%. The company had revenue of $202.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. Employers’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Employers will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James R. Kroner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $51,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,087. The trade was a 4.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael Pedraja bought 3,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $48.59 per share, with a total value of $148,199.50. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 7,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $356,164.70. This trade represents a 71.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,385 shares of company stock worth $276,267. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.