AMERISAFE, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.37 (NASDAQ:AMSF)

AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of 0.37 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, June 21st. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th.

AMERISAFE has increased its dividend by an average of 8.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. AMERISAFE has a dividend payout ratio of 59.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect AMERISAFE to earn $2.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 66.4%.

AMERISAFE Trading Up 1.6 %

AMSF stock traded up $0.72 on Friday, hitting $46.54. 32,834 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 131,845. AMERISAFE has a 1-year low of $44.88 and a 1-year high of $57.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $50.22 and a 200-day moving average of $49.57. The stock has a market cap of $890.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.32.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.08. AMERISAFE had a net margin of 19.97% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business had revenue of $73.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.15 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AMERISAFE will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMSF shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of AMERISAFE from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of AMERISAFE in a report on Monday, April 15th.

About AMERISAFE

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.