Investar Holding Corporation $ISTR Shares Bought by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) by 66.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,794 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.53% of Investar worth $929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ISTR. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Investar by 26.4% during the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,688 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Investar in the 1st quarter valued at $264,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 3,194.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,817 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Investar Price Performance

ISTR stock opened at $23.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $230.42 million, a PE ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 0.60. Investar Holding Corporation has a 12-month low of $15.39 and a 12-month high of $24.81. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.43.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $22.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.15 million. Investar had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 14.33%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Investar Holding Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Investar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Investar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Investar from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

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.