Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Price Target Cut to $20.00 by Analysts at Hovde Group

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) had its price objective trimmed by Hovde Group from $20.50 to $20.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Investar Price Performance

ISTR stock opened at $16.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.30. Investar has a 52-week low of $9.07 and a 52-week high of $17.99.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.14. Investar had a return on equity of 8.64% and a net margin of 11.94%. The business had revenue of $20.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.84 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Investar will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Investar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. Investar’s payout ratio is 23.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Investar

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banc Funds Co. LLC boosted its stake in Investar by 2.9% during 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 last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Investar by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 215,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,207,000 after buying an additional 34,175 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Investar by 231.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 40,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 28,266 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Investar in the 3rd quarter worth about $149,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Investar by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 2,461 shares during the last quarter. 50.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.