AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Receives $44.00 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.00.

Several research firms have recently commented on AMSF. Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on AMERISAFE from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AMERISAFE from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AMERISAFE from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of AMERISAFE from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of AMERISAFE from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th.

Institutional Trading of AMERISAFE

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of AMERISAFE by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 156,059 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,994,000 after acquiring an additional 40,164 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of AMERISAFE by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 611,371 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,483,000 after acquiring an additional 55,750 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in AMERISAFE by 19.3% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 261,375 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,712,000 after purchasing an additional 42,375 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in AMERISAFE by 3,741.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 16,397,229 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $62,982,000 after purchasing an additional 15,970,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in AMERISAFE by 51.0% in the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 53,787 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 18,175 shares during the period. 97.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AMERISAFE Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of AMERISAFE stock opened at $29.78 on Wednesday. AMERISAFE has a twelve month low of $28.94 and a twelve month high of $47.86. The stock has a market cap of $552.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.45.

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

AMERISAFE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.13%.

About AMERISAFE

Amerisafe, Inc (NASDAQ: AMSF) is a specialty provider of workers’ compensation insurance products and services in the United States. The company focuses on underwriting and managing workers’ compensation policies for small to mid-sized public and private businesses, particularly in higher-hazard industries such as retail, manufacturing, distribution and wholesale. Through its network of independent agents, Amerisafe delivers tailored coverage solutions that combine robust risk management support with loss prevention programs designed to enhance workplace safety.

In addition to core insurance offerings, Amerisafe provides extensive risk control resources, including safety training, on-site consultations and claims management services.