AMERISAFE (AMSF) Competitors

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) and Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, media sentiment, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, community ranking, dividends and risk.

Does the media favor AMSF or MCY?

In the previous week, Mercury General had 7 more articles in the media than AMERISAFE. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Mercury General and 5 mentions for AMERISAFE. AMERISAFE's average media sentiment score of 1.24 beat Mercury General's score of 1.19 indicating that AMERISAFE is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AMERISAFE	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Mercury General	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer AMSF or MCY?

Mercury General received 21 more outperform votes than AMERISAFE when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 57.04% of users gave AMERISAFE an outperform vote while only 51.13% of users gave Mercury General an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
AMERISAFE	Outperform Votes 227 57.04%	Underperform Votes 171 42.96%
Mercury General	Outperform Votes 248 51.13%	Underperform Votes 237 48.87%

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of AMSF or MCY?

97.4% of AMERISAFE shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.4% of Mercury General shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of AMERISAFE shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 35.5% of Mercury General shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts prefer AMSF or MCY?

AMERISAFE currently has a consensus price target of $59.50, suggesting a potential upside of 27.98%. Mercury General has a consensus price target of $80.00, suggesting a potential upside of 44.09%. Given Mercury General's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Mercury General is more favorable than AMERISAFE.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AMERISAFE	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Mercury General	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	4.00

Which has more volatility & risk, AMSF or MCY?

AMERISAFE has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mercury General has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AMSF or MCY more profitable?

AMERISAFE has a net margin of 19.49% compared to Mercury General's net margin of 8.55%. Mercury General's return on equity of 22.54% beat AMERISAFE's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AMERISAFE	19.49%	16.50%	4.02%
Mercury General	8.55%	22.54%	5.04%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, AMSF or MCY?

Mercury General has higher revenue and earnings than AMERISAFE. Mercury General is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AMERISAFE, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AMERISAFE	$309.11M	2.87	$62.11M	$2.89	16.09
Mercury General	$5.48B	0.56	$467.95M	$8.45	6.57

Is AMSF or MCY a better dividend stock?

AMERISAFE pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Mercury General pays an annual dividend of $1.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. AMERISAFE pays out 54.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mercury General pays out 15.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. AMERISAFE has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. AMERISAFE is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Mercury General beats AMERISAFE on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.