Investar Holding Corporation $ISTR Stake Cut by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,416 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.56% of Investar worth $962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Investar by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 341,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,497,000 after buying an additional 23,895 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Investar by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 228,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,026,000 after acquiring an additional 67,695 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Investar by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 145,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,099 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Investar by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 101,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,219,000 after purchasing an additional 3,477 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Investar by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 50,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 8,331 shares during the period. 50.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Investar Stock Performance

Shares of ISTR opened at $23.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.97 million, a PE ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.51. Investar Holding Corporation has a 52-week low of $15.39 and a 52-week high of $24.81.

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

Investar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This is an increase from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is 19.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Investar from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Investar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Investar has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $27.00.

Investar 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.