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

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

Separately, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Investar from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Investar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ISTR opened at $19.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $190.70 million, a PE ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.86. Investar has a 1-year low of $14.60 and a 1-year high of $24.81.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.29. Investar had a return on equity of 8.00% and a net margin of 12.81%. The company had revenue of $20.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.90 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Investar will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Investar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Investar’s payout ratio is currently 19.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Investar

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ISTR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Investar by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 341,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,497,000 after purchasing an additional 23,895 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Investar by 42.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 228,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,026,000 after buying an additional 67,695 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Investar by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 191,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,196,000 after buying an additional 68,027 shares during the period. Rhino Investment Partners Inc grew its stake in Investar by 8.0% during the first quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 157,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,767,000 after buying an additional 11,703 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Investar by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 145,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,099 shares in the last quarter. 50.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.