Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) Declares $0.11 Quarterly Dividend

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 19th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.105 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

Investar has increased its dividend payment by an average of 16.5% annually over the last three years. Investar has a dividend payout ratio of 21.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Investar to earn $1.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.0%.

Investar Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ ISTR traded down $0.13 during trading on Thursday, reaching $21.82. 30,568 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,542. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.98. The stock has a market cap of $214.45 million, a P/E ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 0.79. Investar has a 1 year low of $14.10 and a 1 year high of $24.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 6.94%. The company had revenue of $40.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.07 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Investar will post 1.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Investar news, Director Scott G. Ginn acquired 8,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.68 per share, for a total transaction of $200,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $200,688. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.