Short Interest in Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) Expands By 21.7%

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) saw a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 186,200 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the December 15th total of 153,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 32,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Investar Trading Up 1.8 %

Investar stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.12. 26,856 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,878. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $197.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.83. Investar has a fifty-two week low of $14.60 and a fifty-two week high of $24.81.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $40.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.07 million. Investar had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Investar will post 1.64 EPS for the current year.

Investar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Investar’s payout ratio is 23.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Investar

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 bought at an average price of $23.68 per share, for a total transaction of $200,688.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 8,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $200,688. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Investar by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 26,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Investar by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 5,774 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Investar during the third quarter worth $572,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Investar by 2,810.1% during the second 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 period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Investar by 49.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 161,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after buying an additional 53,434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.