Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Investar from “buy” to “hold,” following a similar downgrade by Zacks Research. Analysts now have an overall “Hold” rating, with an average price target of $31.50.
• Investar shares opened at $28.04, down 3.9%, with a market capitalization of approximately $386.4 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83.
• The company slightly exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.77 versus the $0.76 consensus estimate, although revenue of $36.81 million fell short of the $37.45 million forecast.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ISTR. Zacks Research downgraded Investar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Investar in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Investar has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.50.

Investar Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:ISTR opened at $28.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Investar has a 12 month low of $22.95 and a 12 month high of $31.77. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $29.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.31. The firm has a market cap of $386.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.45.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $36.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.45 million. Investar had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 12.62%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Investar will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Investar

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Investar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Investar by 63.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 1,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Investar in the second quarter worth $210,000. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Investar during the second quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Investar during the second quarter worth $230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.17% of the company's stock.

About Investar

Investar Holding Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Through its principal subsidiary, Investar Bank, the company provides community banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions.

Investar Bank offers a range of deposit products, including checking, savings and money market accounts, certificates of deposit and commercial deposit services. Its lending activities include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential mortgage loans, construction and development lending, and consumer loans.

The bank also provides treasury management, online and mobile banking, cash management and other financial services.

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