Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) CEO John D’angelo Sells 26,163 Shares

Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) CEO John D’angelo sold 26,163 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 242,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,799,427.50. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Investar Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ ISTR traded up $0.44 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.21. The company had a trading volume of 92,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 60,516. Investar Holding Corporation has a 12-month low of $15.39 and a 12-month high of $31.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.64 and its 200 day moving average is $24.17. The stock has a market cap of $276.74 million, a PE ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 0.54.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. Investar had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The company had revenue of $23.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.35 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Investar Holding Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Investar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Investar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Investar by 91.0% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 111,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,586,000 after buying an additional 53,090 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Investar by 63.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 135,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,148,000 after acquiring an additional 52,744 shares during the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp purchased a new position in shares of Investar in the third quarter valued at $887,000. Fourthstone LLC bought a new stake in Investar in the second quarter worth $584,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Investar in the 2nd quarter worth about $480,000. Institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ISTR. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Investar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Investar to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Investar in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $29.00.

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.