AMSF AMERISAFE Inc

CHICAGO, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- William Blair & Company today announced that it initiated research coverage of Amerisafe, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) ($9.80), a specialty property-casualty insurance underwriter that writes workers' compensation insurance in hazardous industries, with an Outperform rating and company profile of Aggressive Growth. Analyst Mark Lane estimated that the company would earn $1.20 per share in 2006 and $1.35 per share in 2007. "Before its IPO, Amerisafe was capital constrained, which limited its expansion opportunities," Lane said. "With additional capacity, an excellent reputation, a fragmented market, and a miniscule market share, Amerisafe should gain share within its existing states and, over time, begin to expand into new states." "While we expect recent record catastrophe losses to have a positive impact on pricing in the lines of business directly affected, we also expect the size of the losses to have some stabilizing effect on the rest of the market in the near term," he added. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. (http://www.williamblair.com/) is a Chicago-based investment firm, founded in 1935, offering investment banking, asset management, equity research, institutional and private brokerage, and private capital to individual, institutional, and issuing clients. As an independent, employee-owned firm, our philosophy is to serve our clients' interests first and foremost. We place a high value on the enduring nature of our client relationships, the quality of our products and services, and the continuity and integrity of our people. William Blair & Company has offices in Chicago, Hartford, London, San Francisco, Tokyo, Vaduz, and Zurich. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. has received compensation for investment banking services from the company within the past 12 months, or expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services in the next 3 months. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. was a manager or co-manager of a public offering of equity securities within the prior 12 months. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a market maker in the security of this company and may have a long or short position. For important disclosures and information regarding the firm's rating system, valuation methods and potential conflicts of interest, please visit: http://www.williamblair.com/pages/news_story_dept.asp?uid=958&depID=4 Additional information is available upon request. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, CRD number 1252. DATASOURCE: William Blair & Company, L.L.C. CONTACT: Tony Zimmer of William Blair & Company, L.L.C., +1-312-364-8611, or Web site: http://www.williamblair.com/

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