AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Plans Dividend Increase - $3.37 Per Share

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of 3.37 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, December 13th. This represents a $13.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 24.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from AMERISAFE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37.

AMERISAFE has raised its dividend by an average of 8.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 11 years. AMERISAFE has a payout ratio of 64.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect AMERISAFE to earn $2.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 70.5%.

AMERISAFE Stock Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:AMSF traded down $1.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $54.98. The company had a trading volume of 164,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 125,168. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.05. AMERISAFE has a one year low of $41.97 and a one year high of $56.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 0.34.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 16.38% and a net margin of 18.46%. The business had revenue of $78.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AMERISAFE will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.