Short Interest in AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Increases By 13.7%

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 172,700 shares, a growth of 13.7% from the November 30th total of 151,900 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 125,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMSF. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on AMERISAFE from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AMERISAFE

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,916 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of AMERISAFE by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,882 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of AMERISAFE by 97.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in AMERISAFE by 5.7% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 8,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in AMERISAFE in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 97.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AMERISAFE Stock Performance

AMSF traded up $0.19 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $51.54. The company had a trading volume of 127,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 124,391. AMERISAFE has a 12-month low of $41.97 and a 12-month high of $60.24. The company has a market cap of $981.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.33. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $55.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.31.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $78.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AMERISAFE will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

AMERISAFE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $3.37 per share. This represents a $13.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 26.15%. This is a positive change from AMERISAFE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. AMERISAFE's payout ratio is presently 46.25%.

About AMERISAFE

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.