Investar Holding Corporation (ISTR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.11 on July 31st

Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, June 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of 0.11 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This is a 4.8% increase from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11.

Investar has a dividend payout ratio of 18.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Investar to earn $2.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.8%.

Investar Price Performance

Investar stock opened at $18.31 on Friday. Investar has a 12-month low of $14.60 and a 12-month high of $24.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.17 million, a PE ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.29. Investar had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 8.60%. The company had revenue of $20.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.90 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Investar will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Investar stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) by 7.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,905 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.59% of Investar worth $1,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 50.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ISTR. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Investar from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Investar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 17th.

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.