AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Stock Short Interest Declines 56.7%

Key Points

• AMERISAFE’s short interest fell 56.7% to 484,637 shares as of September 30, representing 2.7% of shares outstanding and a short-interest ratio of 0.7 days.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 97.41%, with several funds initiating positions and Bank of America increasing its stake.
• The stock traded down 2.0% to $24.47, while analysts maintained a mixed outlook with an overall “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $35.67. AMERISAFE also offers a $0.41 quarterly dividend, yielding approximately 6.7% annually.

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 484,637 shares, a decline of 56.7% from the September 15th total of 1,120,147 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 741,673 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AMERISAFE

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in AMERISAFE in the second quarter worth approximately $1,344,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in AMERISAFE by 6.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 623,697 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $20,788,000 after acquiring an additional 39,168 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of AMERISAFE during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,583,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of AMERISAFE during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,539,000. Finally, Palisade Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of AMERISAFE during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,145,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMSF. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Monday. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on AMERISAFE from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings cut AMERISAFE from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised AMERISAFE from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.67.

AMERISAFE Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ:AMSF traded down $0.49 on Tuesday, hitting $24.47. The company had a trading volume of 63,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,122. AMERISAFE has a 52 week low of $23.20 and a 52 week high of $42.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $453.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.81.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $91.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.09 million. AMERISAFE had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 14.87%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AMERISAFE will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

AMERISAFE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. AMERISAFE's payout ratio is currently 66.13%.

About AMERISAFE

AMERISAFE, Inc NASDAQ: AMSF is a specialty workers' compensation insurance company serving small and midsize employers in industries with elevated workplace risks. The company provides coverage designed to help businesses manage the costs associated with work-related injuries and occupational illnesses.

Its primary markets include construction, trucking, logging, agriculture, maritime operations, oil and gas, and other hazardous industries. In addition to insurance coverage, AMERISAFE emphasizes workplace safety, risk management, claims handling and return-to-work support to help policyholders reduce accidents and manage employee injuries.

Headquartered in DeRidder, Louisiana, AMERISAFE has historically focused on selected U.S.

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