Employers (EIG) & Its Competitors Critical Analysis

Employers (NYSE:EIG) is one of 311 publicly-traded companies in the “Insurance” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Employers to related companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

80.5% of Employers shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.8% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Employers shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.5% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Employers and its rivals revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Employers	$858.70 million	$10.80 million	26.60
Employers Competitors	$15.41 billion	$1.70 billion	34.44

Employers’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Employers. Employers is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Employers pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Employers pays out 80.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Insurance” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.9% and pay out 30.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Employers has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Employers and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Employers	3.49%	5.82%	1.49%
Employers Competitors	9.24%	-9.73%	4.23%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Employers and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Employers	0	2	1	0	2.33
Employers Competitors	3321	15621	16448	737	2.40

Employers currently has a consensus target price of $59.00, suggesting a potential upside of 31.23%. As a group, “Insurance” companies have a potential upside of 6.35%. Given Employers’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Employers is more favorable than its rivals.

Volatility and Risk

Employers has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Employers’ rivals have a beta of -1.58, meaning that their average share price is 258% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Employers rivals beat Employers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

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. The company markets its products through local, regional, and national agents and brokers; alternative distribution channels; and national, regional, and local trade groups and associations, as well as directly to customers. Employers Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is based in Henderson, Nevada.