Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) PT Lowered to $20.00 at Hovde Group

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) had its target price decreased by Hovde Group from $20.50 to $20.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. Hovde Group currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Investar Stock Performance

Shares of ISTR opened at $16.29 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $16.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.36. Investar has a 12-month low of $9.07 and a 12-month high of $17.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.32 million, a PE ratio of 9.10 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $20.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.84 million. Investar had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 12.02%. Equities research analysts forecast that Investar will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Investar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. Investar’s payout ratio is 22.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Investar

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in shares of Investar during the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Investar by 23.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 2,461 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Investar during the third quarter worth about $149,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new position in Investar during the fourth quarter worth about $180,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Investar by 231.7% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 40,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 28,266 shares during the period. 50.17% of the stock is currently owned by 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.