Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 47,131 Shares of AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,088 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,131 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.60% of AMERISAFE worth $5,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMSF. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AMERISAFE by 12.8% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 855,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,941,000 after acquiring an additional 97,280 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of AMERISAFE during the 1st quarter worth $23,251,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in shares of AMERISAFE by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 315,409 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,843,000 after buying an additional 15,196 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in AMERISAFE during the first quarter valued at about $821,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in AMERISAFE by 22.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.41% of the company’s stock.

AMERISAFE Stock Down 0.1 %

AMSF opened at $54.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $49.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.14. AMERISAFE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.97 and a twelve month high of $56.46. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 0.34.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. AMERISAFE had a net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 16.38%. The business had revenue of $78.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AMERISAFE, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMERISAFE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $3.37 per share. This is a boost from AMERISAFE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $13.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 24.58%. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio is 46.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMSF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of AMERISAFE in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on AMERISAFE from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AMERISAFE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

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.