Investar Holding Corporation $ISTR Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors reduced its Investar stake by 64.9% in the second quarter, selling 137,510 shares and retaining 74,408 shares valued at approximately $2.23 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 50.17% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with one Buy rating and two Hold ratings, resulting in a consensus Hold rating and a $31.50 price target. Investar recently beat quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $0.75 per share versus expectations of $0.71.
• Investar increased its quarterly dividend to $0.12 per share, equivalent to an annualized $0.48 dividend and a 1.6% yield. Shares opened at $30.87, near the company’s 52-week high of $31.77.

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR - Free Report) by 64.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 74,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 137,510 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.54% of Investar worth $2,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ISTR. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Investar by 7.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 58,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,022,000 after buying an additional 3,905 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Investar by 1.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 230,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,455,000 after buying an additional 2,639 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Investar by 12.8% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Investar by 6.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 58,404 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 3,757 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Investar by 46.9% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 17,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 5,738 shares in the last quarter. 50.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ISTR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Investar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Investar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Investar in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Investar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ISTR opened at $30.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $30.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $425.39 million, a PE ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.45. Investar Holding Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $21.43 and a fifty-two week high of $31.77.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $36.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.35 million. Investar had a net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 11.65%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Investar Holding Corporation will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from Investar's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Investar's dividend payout ratio is 19.75%.

Investar Company Profile

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.

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