Rhumbline Advisers Raises Position in Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) by 2,810.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,257 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.11% of Investar worth $164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Investar by 7.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in Investar by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 23,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 4,614 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Investar by 92.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 20,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 9,921 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Investar in the 1st quarter worth approximately $185,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Investar by 14.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Investar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Investar Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ISTR opened at $19.43 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.98 million, a PE ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Investar Holding Co. has a 52-week low of $9.07 and a 52-week high of $19.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.95 and a 200 day moving average of $16.61.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $19.23 million. Investar had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 6.69%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Investar Holding Co. will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.46%.

Investar 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.