Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Piper Sandler raised Investar from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Investar Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:ISTR opened at $19.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $17.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.85. The company has a market capitalization of $192.57 million, a PE ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Investar has a 52-week low of $14.60 and a 52-week high of $24.81.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.29. Investar had a return on equity of 8.00% and a net margin of 12.81%. The company had revenue of $20.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.90 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Investar will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Investar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Investar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ISTR. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in Investar by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Investar by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 2,688 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Investar during the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Investar during the first quarter valued at about $264,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Investar Company 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.