Investors never know what to expect for Employers Holdings (NYSE: EIG), as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts' estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Employers Holdings is a provider of worker's compensation insurance, focused on select small businesses engaged in low- to medium-hazard industries.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Employers Holdings, with four of six analysts rating it hold. Analysts like Employers Holdings better than competitor National Interstate overall. One out of six analysts rate National Interstate a buy compared to two out of six for Employers Holdings. That rating hasn't budged in three months as analysts have remained steady in their opinion of the stock.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $111.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 9.2% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.07 per share. Estimates range from $0.02 to $0.12.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 100% assigning it an outperform rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars, with 95.6% granting it a rating of outperform. Fools are bullish on Employers Holdings, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 49 posts in the past 30 days. Employers Holdings has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Employers Holdings' income has fallen year over year by an average of 21.6% over the past five quarters. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter

Q2

Q1

Q4

Q3

Net Margin

7.5%

8.1%

17.8%

9.9%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Employers Holdings movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

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