Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) Short Interest Update

Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 200,957 shares, a growth of 35.6% from the February 26th total of 148,181 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 104,582 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Investar Stock Performance

Investar stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $26.82. The company had a trading volume of 107,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 168,571. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.26 and a 200 day moving average of $25.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $368.78 million, a PE ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.52. Investar has a one year low of $15.39 and a one year high of $31.77.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $23.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.35 million. Investar had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 14.92%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Investar will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Investar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Investar

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fourthstone LLC increased its position in Investar by 148.7% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 695,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,597,000 after acquiring an additional 416,145 shares during the period. 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 increased its holdings in shares of Investar by 63.6% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 135,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,148,000 after purchasing an additional 52,744 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Investar in the third quarter valued at approximately $887,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Investar by 72.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 58,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after buying an additional 24,451 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Investar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Investar from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Investar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

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.