Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

Separately, Hovde Group lowered their price target on shares of Investar from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Investar Stock Performance

NASDAQ ISTR traded up $0.23 on Monday, reaching $16.38. 69,707 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 44,522. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.29. The firm has a market cap of $161.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.93 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Investar has a fifty-two week low of $9.07 and a fifty-two week high of $18.99.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $38.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 million. Investar had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 10.04%. Equities research analysts predict that Investar will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Investar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Investar

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Banc Funds Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Investar by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 609,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,089,000 after purchasing an additional 16,918 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Investar by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 215,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,207,000 after buying an additional 34,175 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Investar by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 214,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,509,000 after buying an additional 57,178 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Investar by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 99,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,625,000 after buying an additional 12,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Investar by 111.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 48,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 25,330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Investar Company Profile

Investar Holding Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Investar Bank that provides a range of commercial banking products to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in south Louisiana, southeast Texas, and Alabama in the United States. The company offers various deposit products and services, such as savings, checking, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as various certificates of deposit; debit and credit cards; internet, mobile, and video banking services; and reciprocal deposit products.