Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on ISTR. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Investar to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Investar in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Investar Stock Performance

NASDAQ ISTR opened at $24.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $243.19 million, a PE ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.84. Investar has a 1-year low of $15.39 and a 1-year high of $24.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported ($1.06) EPS for the quarter. Investar had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 14.87%.The company had revenue of $25.46 million for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Investar will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Investar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a yield of 190.0%. Investar’s payout ratio is currently 19.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Investar

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ISTR. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its position in Investar by 26.4% in the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Investar by 3.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 38,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Investar by 19.9% in the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 50,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 8,331 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Investar in the first quarter valued at $264,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Investar by 66.0% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 52,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $929,000 after buying an additional 20,794 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Investar Company Profile

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.