AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) Stock Rating Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on AMSF. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AMERISAFE from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AMERISAFE from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on AMERISAFE from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMERISAFE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.00.

AMERISAFE Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of AMSF opened at $23.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $435.88 million, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 0.23. AMERISAFE has a 12-month low of $23.50 and a 12-month high of $44.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.52.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.08). AMERISAFE had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 14.00%.The company had revenue of $91.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.09 million. Analysts predict that AMERISAFE will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

AMERISAFE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio is 66.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 3,741.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 16,397,229 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $62,982,000 after purchasing an additional 15,970,329 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in AMERISAFE during the second quarter valued at approximately $122,167,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in AMERISAFE by 6.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 623,697 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,788,000 after buying an additional 39,168 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in AMERISAFE by 19.3% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 261,375 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,712,000 after buying an additional 42,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in AMERISAFE by 125.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 138,584 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,619,000 after buying an additional 76,989 shares in the last quarter. 97.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AMERISAFE Company Profile

AMERISAFE, Inc (NASDAQ: AMSF) is a specialty workers’ compensation insurance company headquartered in DeRidder, Louisiana. Through its insurance subsidiaries, the company provides workers’ compensation coverage to small and mid-sized employers whose operations involve relatively high workplace risks.

The company focuses on industries such as construction, trucking, logging, agriculture, manufacturing, oil and gas, and other hazardous occupations. Its services include workers’ compensation underwriting, claims administration, workplace safety and loss-control services, and premium auditing.

AMERISAFE primarily serves employers across the southeastern and other selected regions of the United States.