Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

Investar Stock Down 0.8 %

ISTR stock opened at $20.64 on Tuesday. Investar has a 12 month low of $9.07 and a 12 month high of $21.03. The firm has a market cap of $202.87 million, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.12. Investar had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The business had revenue of $40.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.07 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Investar will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.46%.

Institutional Trading of Investar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Investar by 36.3% during the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 214,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,509,000 after acquiring an additional 57,178 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Investar by 14.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 251,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,869,000 after acquiring an additional 31,589 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Investar during the first quarter valued at approximately $504,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Investar by 111.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 48,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 25,330 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Investar during the second quarter valued at approximately $329,000. 50.17% of the stock is 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.