Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Stock Crosses Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR)’s stock price passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.38 and traded as high as $30.50. Investar shares last traded at $29.48, with a volume of 136,840 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ISTR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.50 price objective on shares of Investar in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Investar from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Investar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.50.

Investar Trading Down 2.2%

The company has a market cap of $406.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.84.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $35.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.40 million. Investar had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.53%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Investar Holding Corporation will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Investar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Investar’s payout ratio is 19.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ISTR. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Investar by 440.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Investar by 69.1% in 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 last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Investar by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Investar by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Investar Company Profile

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.