Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) Increases Dividend to $0.12 Per Share

Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of 0.12 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, July 31st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This is a 9.1% increase from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11.

Investar has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 10 years. Investar has a dividend payout ratio of 19.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Investar to earn $3.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.6%.

Investar Trading Down 1.4%

Investar stock opened at $29.16 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Investar has a one year low of $17.89 and a one year high of $31.77. The stock has a market cap of $402.12 million, a PE ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.46.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.18. Investar had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.53%.The company had revenue of $35.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.40 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Investar will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ISTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.50 price objective on shares of Investar in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research cut Investar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Investar from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Investar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.50.

Investar Company Profile

Investar Holdings, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, operating through its primary subsidiary, Investar Bank. The company delivers commercial and consumer banking products across southeastern Louisiana and into select Texas markets, focusing on relationship-driven service. Investar Bank’s offerings include deposit accounts, lending solutions, online and mobile banking, and treasury management services.

Its lending portfolio encompasses commercial real estate financing, construction and development loans, commercial and industrial credits, agricultural loans, and residential mortgage originations.