Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday.

Separately, Hovde Group reduced their target price on Investar from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Investar Price Performance

Shares of ISTR stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $16.38. The stock had a trading volume of 69,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,522. Investar has a 12-month low of $9.07 and a 12-month high of $18.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.29. The company has a market cap of $161.00 million, a P/E ratio of 8.93 and a beta of 0.78.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.06. Investar had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The company had revenue of $38.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Investar will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Investar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Investar in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Investar by 2,810.1% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 10,257 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new stake in Investar in the 4th quarter valued at about $180,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Investar during the 1st quarter valued at about $185,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Investar by 92.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 20,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 9,921 shares during the last quarter. 50.17% of the stock is currently 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.