Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Stock Price Passes Above 50 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Investar Holding Corporation's shares crossed above their fifty-day moving average at $20.67, reaching a high of $21.55 during trading.
• Wall Street analysts recently adjusted their ratings, with one firm downgrading the stock from "buy" to "hold," while another raised the target price from $22.00 to $27.00.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.47, exceeding expectations, along with a recent dividend payment of $0.11 per share, reflecting a yield of 2.1%.

Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR - Get Free Report) passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.67 and traded as high as $21.55. Investar shares last traded at $21.46, with a volume of 7,713 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Investar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Investar from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd.

Investar Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $20.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.18. The company has a market cap of $216.36 million, a P/E ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.60.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.07. Investar had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 14.33%. The company had revenue of $22.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.15 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Investar Holding Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Investar's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Investar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Investar by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 3,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Investar by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 139,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Investar by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 13,247 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 776 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Investar by 12.8% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Investar by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 38,307 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.17% of the company's stock.

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.