73,956 Shares in Investar Holding Corporation $ISTR Bought by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 73,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,017,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Investar by 440.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Investar by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Investar by 24.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Investar by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Investar by 12.8% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the period. 50.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ISTR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Investar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Investar from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.50 price target on shares of Investar in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Investar Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of ISTR opened at $29.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Investar Holding Corporation has a 1-year low of $20.99 and a 1-year high of $31.77. The stock has a market cap of $408.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.38.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $36.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.35 million. Investar had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.53%. Equities analysts forecast that Investar Holding Corporation will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This is an increase from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is 21.05%.

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.