Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

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

Separately, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Investar in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company.

Investar Stock Up 1.1 %

ISTR stock opened at $18.73 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.34. Investar has a 12 month low of $14.60 and a 12 month high of $24.81. The company has a market cap of $184.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.26. Investar had a net margin of 12.81% and a return on equity of 8.00%. Sell-side analysts expect that Investar will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Investar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Investar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.59%.

Institutional Trading of Investar

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 26,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,117,000 after acquiring an additional 5,774 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Investar in the 3rd quarter worth $572,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 54,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,599 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Investar by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

About Investar

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.