Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) Short Interest Update

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 224,700 shares, a drop of 12.2% from the October 15th total of 255,900 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 39,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Investar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Investar by 7.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 3,325 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew 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 buying an additional 12,412 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Investar during the first quarter valued at $185,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Investar in the 1st quarter worth about $504,000. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in Investar by 36.3% during the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 214,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,509,000 after purchasing an additional 57,178 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Investar Price Performance

Shares of Investar stock traded down $0.26 during trading on Monday, hitting $23.33. The stock had a trading volume of 13,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,694. Investar has a 12 month low of $9.83 and a 12 month high of $24.26. The business’s 50-day moving average is $20.17 and its 200 day moving average is $17.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $229.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 0.76.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $40.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.07 million. Investar had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 6.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Investar will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This is a boost from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Investar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.46%.

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.