Hovde Group Trims Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Target Price to $20.00

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) had its target price trimmed by Hovde Group from $20.50 to $20.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Investar Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ ISTR opened at $16.26 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.32. Investar has a 12 month low of $9.07 and a 12 month high of $17.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.02 million, a PE ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.14. Investar had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 12.02%. The firm had revenue of $20.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.84 million. On average, analysts expect that Investar will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Investar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is 22.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ISTR. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 215,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,207,000 after purchasing an additional 34,175 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 231.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 40,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares during the period. Banc Funds Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 609,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,089,000 after purchasing an additional 16,918 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Investar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $149,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new position in Investar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $180,000. 50.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.