StockNews.com Downgrades Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Investar in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock.

Investar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ISTR opened at $18.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $184.08 million, a PE ratio of 9.18 and a beta of 0.79. Investar has a 12 month low of $14.60 and a 12 month high of $24.81. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.34.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.26. Investar had a net margin of 12.81% and a return on equity of 8.00%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Investar will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Investar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ISTR. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Investar during the third quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Investar by 5.2% during the third 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. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Investar during the third quarter valued at approximately $572,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Investar by 6.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 1,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Investar by 851.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 12,815 shares in the last quarter. 50.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.