AMERISAFE (AMSF) Competitors

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) and AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, community ranking, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation and media sentiment.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MCY or AMSF?

Mercury General received 22 more outperform votes than AMERISAFE when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 56.93% of users gave AMERISAFE an outperform vote while only 51.13% of users gave Mercury General an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Mercury General	Outperform Votes 248 51.13%	Underperform Votes 237 48.87%
AMERISAFE	Outperform Votes 226 56.93%	Underperform Votes 171 43.07%

Is MCY or AMSF a better dividend stock?

Mercury General pays an annual dividend of $1.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. AMERISAFE pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Mercury General pays out 15.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AMERISAFE pays out 54.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. AMERISAFE has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. AMERISAFE is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of MCY or AMSF?

42.4% of Mercury General shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.4% of AMERISAFE shares are held by institutional investors. 35.5% of Mercury General shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of AMERISAFE shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is MCY or AMSF more profitable?

AMERISAFE has a net margin of 19.49% compared to Mercury General's net margin of 8.55%. Mercury General's return on equity of 22.54% beat AMERISAFE's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mercury General	8.55%	22.54%	5.04%
AMERISAFE	19.49%	16.50%	4.02%

Do analysts rate MCY or AMSF?

Mercury General presently has a consensus price target of $80.00, suggesting a potential upside of 49.18%. AMERISAFE has a consensus price target of $59.50, suggesting a potential upside of 20.13%. Given Mercury General's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Mercury General is more favorable than AMERISAFE.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mercury General	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	4.00
AMERISAFE	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the media prefer MCY or AMSF?

In the previous week, Mercury General had 3 more articles in the media than AMERISAFE. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Mercury General and 5 mentions for AMERISAFE. AMERISAFE's average media sentiment score of 1.49 beat Mercury General's score of 0.84 indicating that AMERISAFE is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Mercury General	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AMERISAFE	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, MCY or AMSF?

Mercury General has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AMERISAFE has a beta of 0.34, meaning that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, MCY or AMSF?

Mercury General has higher revenue and earnings than AMERISAFE. Mercury General is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AMERISAFE, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mercury General	$5.48B	0.54	$467.95M	$8.45	6.35
AMERISAFE	$309.11M	3.05	$62.11M	$2.89	17.14

Summary

Mercury General beats AMERISAFE on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.