Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Invests $485,000 in AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $485,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in AMERISAFE by 8.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 811,561 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,223,000 after purchasing an additional 63,638 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in AMERISAFE by 365.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 33,219 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 26,084 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in AMERISAFE by 70.6% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 41,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 17,084 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in AMERISAFE by 6.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,882 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in AMERISAFE by 1,328.5% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,914 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. 97.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMERISAFE Stock Performance

Shares of AMSF opened at $51.72 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $50.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.91. AMERISAFE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.97 and a 52 week high of $60.24. The company has a market capitalization of $985.27 million, a PE ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 0.33.

AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The insurance provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. AMERISAFE had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The firm had revenue of $73.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.37 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that AMERISAFE, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMERISAFE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. AMERISAFE’s payout ratio is 53.98%.

AMERISAFE Company 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.