AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Short Interest Update

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 151,900 shares, a decline of 26.8% from the November 15th total of 207,600 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 122,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

AMERISAFE Price Performance

Shares of AMSF traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $53.70. The company had a trading volume of 65,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 124,647. The company’s 50-day moving average is $55.07 and its 200-day moving average is $49.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.33. AMERISAFE has a twelve month low of $41.97 and a twelve month high of $60.24.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. AMERISAFE had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 19.49%. The firm had revenue of $78.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.38 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AMERISAFE will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMERISAFE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $3.37 dividend. This is a boost from AMERISAFE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $13.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 25.10%. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMSF. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of AMERISAFE by 136.0% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,654 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,481,000 after acquiring an additional 85,089 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 701,806 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,802,000 after buying an additional 83,438 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 811,561 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,223,000 after buying an additional 63,638 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of AMERISAFE by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 114,088 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,514,000 after buying an additional 47,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in AMERISAFE by 238.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 61,946 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,719,000 after buying an additional 43,649 shares during the period. 97.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMSF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on AMERISAFE from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

About AMERISAFE

AMERISAFE, Inc, an insurance holding company, underwrites workers’ compensation insurance in the United States. The company provides benefits to injured employees for temporary or permanent disability, death, and medical and hospital expenses. It sells its products through retail and wholesale brokers and agents; and small and mid-sized employers engaged in hazardous industries, including construction, trucking, logging and lumber, agriculture, manufacturing, telecommunications, and maritime.