Investar Holding Corporation $ISTR Stock Holdings Decreased by Banc Funds Co. LLC

Banc Funds Co. LLC lowered its position in shares of Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) by 22.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 371,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 109,804 shares during the quarter. Investar makes up 1.5% of Banc Funds Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Banc Funds Co. LLC’s holdings in Investar were worth $8,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted 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 worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in Investar by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Investar by 24.9% during 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 period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Investar by 12.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Investar by 258.8% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 12,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ISTR. Zacks Research upgraded Investar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Investar in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Investar presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

Investar Stock Down 0.9%

Investar stock opened at $26.60 on Friday. Investar Holding Corporation has a twelve month low of $15.39 and a twelve month high of $31.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $260.95 million, a PE ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.67.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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. On average, research analysts predict that Investar Holding Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Investar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Investar news, CEO John J. D’angelo sold 26,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.01, for a total value of $732,825.63. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 242,750 shares in the company, valued at $6,799,427.50. The trade was a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 8.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Investar 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.