AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Short Interest Up 26.5% in September

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 218,400 shares, a growth of 26.5% from the August 31st total of 172,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 113,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AMERISAFE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMSF. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AMERISAFE by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,654 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,281,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AMERISAFE by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 178,458 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,348,000 after buying an additional 73,638 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 301,819 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,119,000 after buying an additional 12,433 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AMERISAFE by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 678,321 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,732,000 after acquiring an additional 105,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AMERISAFE by 26.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. 97.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of AMERISAFE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th.

AMERISAFE Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AMSF opened at $48.32 on Friday. AMERISAFE has a 52 week low of $41.97 and a 52 week high of $54.80. The stock has a market cap of $924.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.04.

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

AMERISAFE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.