AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Short Interest Down 11.2% in September

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 194,000 shares, a decrease of 11.2% from the September 15th total of 218,400 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 111,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of AMERISAFE in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 1,028.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 14.4% in the second quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 76,870 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 9,672 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 97.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of AMERISAFE in the second quarter worth approximately $100,000. Institutional investors own 97.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMSF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of AMERISAFE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of AMERISAFE in a research note on Tuesday.

AMERISAFE Stock Performance

AMSF stock opened at $49.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $950.82 million, a PE ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 0.34. AMERISAFE has a one year low of $41.97 and a one year high of $54.80. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.86.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $75.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.20 million. AMERISAFE had a return on equity of 16.38% and a net margin of 18.46%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that AMERISAFE will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

AMERISAFE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio is 46.11%.

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.