In a report issued on July 5, Randy Binner from B.Riley FBR downgraded AmTrust (NASDAQ: AFSI) to Hold, with a price target of $12. The company’s shares opened today at $14.56.
Binner noted:
“After the close on July 3, 2018, A.M. Best announced they removed AmTrust Financial “from under review with negative implications” and downgraded the of AFSI from “A” (Excellent) to “A-” (Excellent) with a stable outlook. A.M. Best cited that AFSI still maintains very strong balance sheet strength, adequate operating performance, a neutral business profile, and marginal enterprise risk management. In our view, this downgrade does not conflict with the merger agreement that allows Stone Point to terminate the merger if AFSI does not keep an “A” category rating at A.M. Best. Following the A.M. Best downgrade, AFSI released a note stating that both the Karfunkel-Zyskind family and Stone Point are still fully committed to the deal. We expect this to close in 2H18. We reiterate our Neutral rating and $12 PT.”
According to TipRanks.com, Binner is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 13.6% and a 69.3% success rate. Binner covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as American Equity Investment Life, American International Group, and Health Insurance Innovations.
Currently, the analyst consensus on AmTrust is a Hold with an average price target of $12.
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Based on AmTrust’s latest earnings release for the quarter ending March 31, the company reported a quarterly net profit of $678 million. In comparison, last year the company had a net profit of $22.4 million.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 36 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is neutral on the stock. Most recently, in May 2018, Stephen Ungar, the SVP, GC & Sec of AFSI bought 291 shares for a total of $1,679.
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AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. engages in the provision of insurance services. It operates through the following segments: Small Commercial Business, Specialty Risk and Extended Warranty, and Specialty Program.
