Investar Holding Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.11 (NASDAQ:ISTR)

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 19th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given 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 yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

Investar has raised its dividend by an average of 16.5% per year over the last three years. Investar has a payout ratio of 21.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ISTR stock opened at $21.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Investar has a fifty-two week low of $14.10 and a fifty-two week high of $24.81. The stock has a market cap of $214.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Scott G. Ginn acquired 8,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 $200,688. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 8.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Investar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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.