Advisors Preferred LLC Acquires Shares of 8,341 AMERISAFE, Inc. $AMSF

Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 8,341 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMSF. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in AMERISAFE by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in AMERISAFE during the 1st quarter valued at $509,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in AMERISAFE by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 94,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,988,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in AMERISAFE by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 106,697 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,607,000 after purchasing an additional 7,686 shares during the period. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC increased its position in AMERISAFE by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 64,441 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,386,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. 97.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMERISAFE Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ AMSF opened at $39.81 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.84. The company has a market cap of $756.03 million, a PE ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.32. AMERISAFE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.09 and a 52-week high of $60.24.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55. The firm had revenue of $81.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.29 million. AMERISAFE had a net margin of 16.12% and a return on equity of 17.16%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AMERISAFE, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMERISAFE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 394.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. AMERISAFE’s dividend payout ratio is 59.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AMERISAFE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. JMP Securities reduced their target price on shares of AMERISAFE from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of AMERISAFE from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of AMERISAFE in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AMERISAFE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.00.

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.