Piper Sandler Downgrades Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) to Neutral

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) was downgraded by research analysts at Piper Sandler from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $31.50 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target suggests a potential upside of 13.68% from the company’s previous close.

ISTR has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research lowered Investar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Investar from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Investar Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of ISTR opened at $27.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $380.74 million, a P/E ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Investar has a 1 year low of $17.89 and a 1 year high of $31.77.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $53.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.40 million. Investar had a return on equity of 11.83% and a net margin of 16.53%. On average, analysts forecast that Investar will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Investar news, CEO John J. D’angelo sold 26,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.01, for a total value of $732,825.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 242,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,799,427.50. The trade was a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Investar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ISTR. Fourthstone LLC lifted its position in Investar by 148.7% in the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 695,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,597,000 after purchasing an additional 416,145 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Investar by 91.0% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 111,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,586,000 after buying an additional 53,090 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Investar by 63.6% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 135,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,148,000 after buying an additional 52,744 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp purchased a new position in shares of Investar during the third quarter valued at approximately $887,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Investar by 72.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 58,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after buying an additional 24,451 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

About Investar

Investar Holdings, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, operating through its primary subsidiary, Investar Bank. The company delivers commercial and consumer banking products across southeastern Louisiana and into select Texas markets, focusing on relationship-driven service. Investar Bank’s offerings include deposit accounts, lending solutions, online and mobile banking, and treasury management services.

Its lending portfolio encompasses commercial real estate financing, construction and development loans, commercial and industrial credits, agricultural loans, and residential mortgage originations.