Short Interest in AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Rises By 46.6%

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 253,200 shares, a growth of 46.6% from the December 15th total of 172,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 118,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMSF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AMERISAFE from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Institutional Trading of AMERISAFE

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in AMERISAFE by 136.0% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,654 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,481,000 after buying an additional 85,089 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AMERISAFE by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 701,806 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $30,802,000 after acquiring an additional 83,438 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 811,561 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $39,223,000 after acquiring an additional 63,638 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of AMERISAFE by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 114,088 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,514,000 after acquiring an additional 47,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 238.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 61,946 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,719,000 after purchasing an additional 43,649 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.41% of the company's stock.

AMERISAFE Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMSF traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.77. The stock had a trading volume of 61,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 79,612. AMERISAFE has a 1 year low of $41.97 and a 1 year high of $60.24. The company has a market capitalization of $986.22 million, a PE ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.82.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. AMERISAFE had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 19.49%. The company had revenue of $78.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that AMERISAFE will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMERISAFE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $3.37 per share. This represents a $13.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 26.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from AMERISAFE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. AMERISAFE's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.