Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

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

Investar Trading Down 0.3 %

ISTR opened at $20.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.56 million, a PE ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.78. Investar has a fifty-two week low of $9.07 and a fifty-two week high of $21.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.27 and its 200 day moving average is $17.30.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.12. Investar had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $40.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.07 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Investar will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.46%.

Institutional Trading of Investar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ISTR. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Investar during the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Investar by 2,810.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 10,257 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Investar in the 1st quarter worth $185,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in Investar by 92.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 20,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 9,921 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Investar in the 2nd quarter worth $329,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

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.