Rhino Investment Partners Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Investar Holding Corporation $ISTR

Key Points

• Rhino Investment Partners Inc has increased its stake in Investar Holding Corporation by 8.0%, now owning approximately 1.60% of the company, valued at $2.77 million.
• Investar has received an updated price target of $27.00 from Piper Sandler, indicating potential growth, while its average rating remains at "Buy".
• Investar recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.11, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.0%, and has a current dividend payout ratio of 19.64%.

Rhino Investment Partners Inc boosted its position in Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 157,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,703 shares during the period. Rhino Investment Partners Inc owned 1.60% of Investar worth $2,767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Investar by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 17,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Investar by 3,194.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Investar by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,817 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.17% of the company's stock.

Investar Stock Performance

Shares of ISTR traded up $0.17 on Tuesday, reaching $23.28. 4,005 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,655. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $228.79 million, a PE ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $21.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.32. Investar Holding Corporation has a 52-week low of $15.39 and a 52-week high of $24.81.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $22.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.15 million. Investar had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 14.33%. On average, analysts forecast that Investar Holding Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Investar's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Investar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Investar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Investar from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Investar has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.00.

About Investar

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.