Amerisafe, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $64.00.
A number of research firms have commented on AMSF. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Amerisafe from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 22nd. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Amerisafe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 19th. Finally, ValuEngine raised shares of Amerisafe from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 13th.
Get Amerisafe alerts:In other news, EVP Kathryn Housh Shirley sold 1,284 shares of Amerisafe stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.53, for a total value of $79,004.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $650,310.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Neal Andrew Fuller sold 578 shares of Amerisafe stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.76, for a total transaction of $35,697.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,256,260.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,553 shares of company stock worth $218,698 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.
Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMSF. Tygh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amerisafe in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,513,000. Teachers Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Amerisafe by 387.2% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Advisors LLC now owns 179,962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,149,000 after buying an additional 143,027 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Vance Management purchased a new position in shares of Amerisafe in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,184,000. Walthausen & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amerisafe in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,575,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Amerisafe by 117.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 138,608 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,587,000 after buying an additional 74,804 shares during the last quarter.
NASDAQ AMSF traded up $0.58 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $62.38. 60,821 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 85,600. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 0.53. Amerisafe has a 12-month low of $50.46 and a 12-month high of $67.96.
Amerisafe (NASDAQ:AMSF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.20. Amerisafe had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 15.21%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amerisafe will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from Amerisafe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Amerisafe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.80%.
Amerisafe Company Profile
AMERISAFE, Inc, an insurance holding company, provides workers' compensation insurance in the United States. Its workers' compensation insurance policies provide benefits to injured employees for temporary or permanent disability, death, and medical and hospital expenses. The company serves small to mid-sized employers involved in construction, trucking, logging and lumber, manufacturing, agriculture, maritime, oil and gas, and other industries through agencies.
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