Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Investar in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Investar to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $29.00.

Investar Stock Down 0.5%

ISTR stock opened at $27.77 on Tuesday. Investar has a twelve month low of $15.39 and a twelve month high of $31.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.17. The company has a market cap of $272.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 0.54.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $23.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.35 million. Investar had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 9.31%. Analysts anticipate that Investar will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Investar

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Investar by 91.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 111,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,586,000 after purchasing an additional 53,090 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Investar by 63.6% in the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 135,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,148,000 after buying an additional 52,744 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp acquired a new stake in Investar during the third quarter worth approximately $887,000. Fourthstone LLC bought a new position in Investar during the 2nd quarter worth $584,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Investar in the 2nd quarter valued at $480,000. Institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

About Investar

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.