AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Stock Short Interest Report for September

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 484,637 shares, a decline of 56.7% from the September 15th total of 1,120,147 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 741,673 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.7 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp decreased their target price on AMERISAFE from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings lowered AMERISAFE from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised AMERISAFE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of AMERISAFE in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on AMERISAFE in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.67.

Institutional Trading of AMERISAFE

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in AMERISAFE in the second quarter worth $122,167,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position 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 buying an additional 15,970,329 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in AMERISAFE by 6.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in AMERISAFE by 19.3% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 261,375 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,712,000 after buying an additional 42,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in AMERISAFE by 125.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 138,584 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,619,000 after buying an additional 76,989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.41% of the company’s stock.

AMERISAFE Price Performance

AMSF traded up $0.35 on Thursday, reaching $24.99. 29,246 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 288,905. The company has a market cap of $463.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.69. AMERISAFE has a 52-week low of $23.20 and a 52-week high of $42.21.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $91.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.09 million. AMERISAFE had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 14.00%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AMERISAFE will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMERISAFE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.13%.

AMERISAFE Company Profile

AMERISAFE, Inc (NASDAQ: AMSF) is a specialty workers’ compensation insurance company serving small and midsize employers in industries with elevated workplace risks. The company provides coverage designed to help businesses manage the costs associated with work-related injuries and occupational illnesses.

Its primary markets include construction, trucking, logging, agriculture, maritime operations, oil and gas, and other hazardous industries. In addition to insurance coverage, AMERISAFE emphasizes workplace safety, risk management, claims handling and return-to-work support to help policyholders reduce accidents and manage employee injuries.

Headquartered in DeRidder, Louisiana, AMERISAFE has historically focused on selected U.S.