Amerisafe Benefits From Specialty In High-Hazard Insurance

Amerisafe Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) has 33 years of operating history to its credit as a specialty provider of workers’ compensation insurance for small to midsize employers engaged in high-hazard industries. The line of business that the insurer follows has been profitable because it brings to the company higher premium owing to inherent workplace dangers associated with such policies.

The company is known for its balance sheet strength, group’s strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

Amerisafe also flaunts a competitive edge in focusing on specialized underwriting expertise as witnessed by its combined ratios, which are at more favorable levels than its peers. The company’s combined ratio has stayed below 100% since 2006, save 2011, signifying underwriting profitability.

The company also boasts an efficient operating platform. Through extensive cost-management initiatives, Amerisafe executes one of the most efficient operations in the workers’ compensation industry. This has in turn, enabled the company to maintain its operating return on equity at 14.3%, above the industry’s ROE of 12.8%.

Amerisafe’s focused loss control and safety programs plus active claims management have generated strong underwriting results.

Amerisafe has been delivering solid cash flow from operations over the past many years. Favorable cash flow generation along with absence of any long-term debt prepares the company to adopt a disciplined capital management strategy.

We also appreciate the company’s commendable capital management policy via acquisitions, steady dividend payments and extraordinary annual payouts since 2014 plus share buybacks, which have been able to yield a positive return on equity.

Year to date, the stock has gained 6.9% against the industry’s growth of 16.2%.

Amerisafe also carries an investment grade rating from A.M.Best with a stable outlook by virtue of its strong level of risk-adjusted capitalization, a consistently profitable operating performance and its established position and experience in the workers’ compensation market for high-hazard risks.

Nevertheless, Amerisafe’s product concentration and persistent premium rate declines since 2015 are major headwinds faced by the company. It has also been witnessing escalated expenses from the past many years, weighing on its margins.

Amerisafe currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some other stocks worth considering are Employers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:EIG) , Aflac Inc. (NYSE:AFL) and W.R. Berkley Corp. (NYSE:WRB) . While Employers carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Aflac and W.R. Berkley carry a Zacks Rank #2.

Employers Holdings, W.R. Berkley and Aflac surpassed earnings estimates in all four reported quarters with an average positive surprise of 78.3%, 32.07% and 7.01%, respectively.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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