Granite Investment Partners LLC Acquires 85,089 Shares of AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF)

Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) by 136.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 147,654 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,089 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in AMERISAFE were worth $6,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMSF. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in AMERISAFE by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in AMERISAFE during the first quarter worth $154,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in AMERISAFE by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,901 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in AMERISAFE in the 1st quarter valued at $253,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in AMERISAFE by 209.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,508 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 3,730 shares during the last quarter. 97.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AMERISAFE Stock Down 2.7 %

AMSF opened at $47.91 on Friday. AMERISAFE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.97 and a 12-month high of $54.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $48.25 and a 200-day moving average of $47.20. The stock has a market cap of $916.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93 and a beta of 0.34.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $75.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.20 million. AMERISAFE had a net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 16.38%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AMERISAFE, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

AMERISAFE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AMSF. StockNews.com raised AMERISAFE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of AMERISAFE in a report on Tuesday, July 30th.

AMERISAFE 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.