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

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) saw a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 337,800 shares, a growth of 9.1% from the March 31st total of 309,700 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 140,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

AMERISAFE Price Performance

NASDAQ AMSF opened at $45.60 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $49.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.42. AMERISAFE has a 1 year low of $44.61 and a 1 year high of $57.06. The company has a market cap of $872.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 0.32.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.03. AMERISAFE had a net margin of 19.97% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The company had revenue of $80.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AMERISAFE will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

AMERISAFE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. AMERISAFE’s payout ratio is 46.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMSF shares. TheStreet raised shares of AMERISAFE from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AMERISAFE from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AMERISAFE

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AMERISAFE by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,398,263 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $65,411,000 after acquiring an additional 37,048 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AMERISAFE by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 678,321 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,732,000 after buying an additional 105,414 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in AMERISAFE by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 301,819 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,119,000 after buying an additional 12,433 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AMERISAFE by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 178,458 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,348,000 after buying an additional 73,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AMERISAFE by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,654 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,281,000 after buying an additional 2,856 shares during the last quarter. 97.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AMERISAFE Company Profile

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.