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

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) saw a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 208,700 shares, an increase of 17.1% from the October 15th total of 178,200 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 111,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AMERISAFE

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AMERISAFE by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 453,539 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $21,924,000 after purchasing an additional 6,166 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in AMERISAFE by 365.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 33,219 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,605,000 after buying an additional 26,084 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in AMERISAFE by 123.4% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 13,186 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 7,283 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 41,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,996,000 after acquiring an additional 17,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 8.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 811,561 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,223,000 after purchasing an additional 63,638 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMERISAFE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of AMERISAFE from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

AMERISAFE Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMSF opened at $58.28 on Friday. AMERISAFE has a fifty-two week low of $41.97 and a fifty-two week high of $60.24. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.97.

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

AMERISAFE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $3.37 dividend. This represents a $13.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 23.13%. This is an increase from AMERISAFE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.25%.

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.