Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

Investar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ISTR opened at $20.64 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Investar has a fifty-two week low of $9.07 and a fifty-two week high of $21.03. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.08. The company has a market cap of $202.87 million, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.78.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.12. Investar had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The business had revenue of $40.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.07 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Investar will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.105 dividend. This is a boost from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is 23.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Investar by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 251,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,869,000 after purchasing an additional 31,589 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in Investar by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 214,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,509,000 after purchasing an additional 57,178 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 12,412 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 111.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 48,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 25,330 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 3,325 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.