AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Shares Purchased by Procyon Advisors LLC

Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,766 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,428 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in AMERISAFE were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMSF. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of AMERISAFE in the 1st quarter worth approximately $23,251,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AMERISAFE by 8.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,472,739 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $73,887,000 after purchasing an additional 115,676 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of AMERISAFE by 12.8% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 855,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,941,000 after buying an additional 97,280 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of AMERISAFE by 136.0% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,654 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,481,000 after buying an additional 85,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AMERISAFE by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 701,806 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,802,000 after buying an additional 83,438 shares during the last quarter. 97.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMSF shares. StockNews.com raised shares of AMERISAFE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Tuesday.

AMERISAFE Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMSF opened at $49.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $950.82 million, a P/E ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 0.34. AMERISAFE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.97 and a 52-week high of $54.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.86.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.03). The firm 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AMERISAFE, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

AMERISAFE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. AMERISAFE’s payout ratio is currently 46.11%.

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.