DERIDDER, La. (AP) _ Amerisafe Inc. (AMSF) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $34 million.

The Deridder, Louisiana-based company said it had profit of $1.76 per share. Earnings, adjusted for investment gains, were $1.70 per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 76 cents per share.

The insurance provider posted revenue of $91.9 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $90.4 million, matching Street forecasts.

For the year, the company reported profit of $92.7 million, or $4.80 per share. Revenue was reported as $365.7 million.

Amerisafe shares have risen 7% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $70.78, a climb of 10% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on AMSF at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AMSF

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News