AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,115 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,441 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.46% of AMERISAFE worth $4,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AMERISAFE by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 536,836 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $27,675,000 after buying an additional 83,297 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in AMERISAFE by 6,160.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 84,080 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,418,000 after buying an additional 82,737 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in AMERISAFE by 92.1% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 161,815 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $8,340,000 after buying an additional 77,582 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in AMERISAFE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,881,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AMERISAFE by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,393,807 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $71,837,000 after buying an additional 50,441 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th.

AMERISAFE Price Performance

NASDAQ AMSF traded up $2.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.23. 226,724 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 127,602. The company has a market cap of $880.68 million, a PE ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 0.40. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $44.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.21. AMERISAFE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.48 and a 52 week high of $60.24.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $79.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.30 million. AMERISAFE had a return on equity of 16.36% and a net margin of 16.46%. On average, research analysts predict that AMERISAFE, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

AMERISAFE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. AMERISAFE's payout ratio is currently 62.90%.

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.