Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Investar from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Investar Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ ISTR opened at $27.01 on Tuesday. Investar has a fifty-two week low of $15.39 and a fifty-two week high of $31.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $371.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $28.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.88.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. Investar had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 14.92%.The company had revenue of $23.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.35 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Investar will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Investar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is 20.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Investar news, CEO John J. D’angelo sold 26,163 shares of Investar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.01, for a total transaction of $732,825.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 242,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,799,427.50. The trade was a 9.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 8.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Investar

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Investar by 440.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 2,363 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in Investar by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in Investar by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Investar by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Investar by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.