JMP Securities Reiterates Market Outperform Rating for AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF)

JMP Securities reiterated their market outperform rating on shares of AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $65.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock.

Separately, TheStreet upgraded shares of AMERISAFE from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th.

AMERISAFE Stock Up 1.2 %

AMSF opened at $48.32 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $924.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 0.32. AMERISAFE has a twelve month low of $45.34 and a twelve month high of $57.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.60.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $73.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.15 million. AMERISAFE had a net margin of 20.24% and a return on equity of 17.19%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AMERISAFE will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

AMERISAFE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a boost from AMERISAFE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.82%.

Institutional Trading of AMERISAFE

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AMERISAFE by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,901 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AMERISAFE by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,357,063 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $63,483,000 after buying an additional 26,009 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in AMERISAFE by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,097 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,636 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in AMERISAFE by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 109,694 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 7,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in AMERISAFE by 222.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,817 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 20,556 shares in the last quarter. 97.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.