AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily volume of 122,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of AMERISAFE

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMSF. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 315,409 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,843,000 after purchasing an additional 15,196 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 90.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 66,957 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,939,000 after purchasing an additional 31,829 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AMERISAFE during the 2nd quarter worth $591,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AMERISAFE during the 2nd quarter worth $918,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 639,996 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,931,000 after purchasing an additional 14,104 shares during the period. 97.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMERISAFE Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:AMSF traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $53.70. The company had a trading volume of 65,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 124,647. The company has a 50-day moving average of $54.97 and a 200 day moving average of $49.41. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.33. AMERISAFE has a 1 year low of $41.97 and a 1 year high of $60.24.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $78.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.38 million. AMERISAFE had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 19.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AMERISAFE will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

AMERISAFE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $3.37 dividend. This is a boost from AMERISAFE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $13.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 25.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on AMERISAFE from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

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.