Short Interest in Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) Drops By 12.2%

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 224,700 shares, a decrease of 12.2% from the October 15th total of 255,900 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 39,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Investar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Investar Price Performance

Shares of Investar stock opened at $23.59 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $20.17 and a 200 day moving average of $17.79. Investar has a 52 week low of $9.83 and a 52 week high of $24.26. The company has a market cap of $231.89 million, a PE ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.12. Investar had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The business had revenue of $40.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.07 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Investar will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. This is a boost from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Investar’s payout ratio is presently 23.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Investar by 6.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,706 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Investar by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 51,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 2,546 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Investar in the 3rd quarter worth about $57,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Investar by 129.1% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 3,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in Investar by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 23,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 4,614 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.