AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Short Interest Up 9.1% in April

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AMERISAFE

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in AMERISAFE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in AMERISAFE by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,901 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $182,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in AMERISAFE by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 4,782 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in AMERISAFE in the 4th quarter valued at $232,000. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC purchased a new position in shares of AMERISAFE during the 3rd quarter valued at $270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMSF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered AMERISAFE from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet upgraded AMERISAFE from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Monday, April 15th.

AMERISAFE Stock Up 2.3 %

AMSF opened at $46.66 on Thursday. AMERISAFE has a twelve month low of $44.61 and a twelve month high of $57.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $49.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.40. The stock has a market cap of $893.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54 and a beta of 0.32.

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

AMERISAFE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.