Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Coverage Initiated at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $21.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

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

Investar Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of ISTR opened at $18.56 on Friday. Investar has a fifty-two week low of $14.60 and a fifty-two week 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. The company’s fifty day moving average is $20.33 and its 200 day moving average is $20.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.44 million, a PE ratio of 9.10 and a beta of 0.79.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.26. Investar had a net margin of 12.81% and a return on equity of 8.00%. Sell-side analysts expect that Investar will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Investar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.59%.

Institutional Trading of Investar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Investar by 25.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 26,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 5,224 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Investar by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,117,000 after acquiring an additional 5,774 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Investar in the third quarter worth $572,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Investar by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 54,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Investar by 46.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,190 shares during the period. 50.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.