Short Interest in AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Drops By 37.5%

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 132,800 shares, a drop of 37.5% from the February 13th total of 212,500 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 92,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AMERISAFE

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AMERISAFE during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in AMERISAFE by 63.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in AMERISAFE in the 4th quarter valued at about $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in AMERISAFE in the 4th quarter valued at about $180,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in AMERISAFE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $200,000. 97.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AMERISAFE Stock Performance

Shares of AMSF opened at $51.20 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $50.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.86. The company has a market capitalization of $975.36 million, a P/E ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 0.33. AMERISAFE has a fifty-two week low of $41.97 and a fifty-two week high of $60.24.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The insurance provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. AMERISAFE had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 19.49%. The firm had revenue of $73.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.37 million. Analysts forecast that AMERISAFE will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

AMERISAFE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.98%.

AMERISAFE Company Profile

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.