Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) Increases Dividend to $0.11 Per Share

Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, June 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of 0.11 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This is a 4.8% increase from Investar's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11.

Investar has a payout ratio of 18.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Investar to earn $2.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.8%.

Investar Stock Performance

NASDAQ ISTR traded up $0.52 during trading on Monday, reaching $18.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,174. Investar has a 12 month low of $14.60 and a 12 month high of $24.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $20.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.90 million. Investar had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 13.99%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Investar will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ISTR. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Investar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 17th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Investar from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Investar stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR - Free Report) by 7.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,905 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.59% of Investar worth $1,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 50.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.