Rhino Investment Partners Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR)

Rhino Investment Partners Inc boosted its position in Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR - Free Report) by 383.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 145,448 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 115,387 shares during the period. Rhino Investment Partners Inc owned approximately 1.48% of Investar worth $3,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ISTR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Investar by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 341,384 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,497,000 after acquiring an additional 23,895 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Investar by 42.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 228,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,026,000 after purchasing an additional 67,695 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Investar by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 191,093 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,196,000 after purchasing an additional 68,027 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Investar by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 126,077 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Investar by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,540 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,117,000 after buying an additional 5,774 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ISTR. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Investar from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Investar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday.

Investar Stock Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ ISTR traded up $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $19.35. 9,702 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 44,516. Investar Holding Co. has a 12-month low of $14.60 and a 12-month high of $24.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $190.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 0.52. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $17.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.94.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $20.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.90 million. Investar had a net margin of 12.81% and a return on equity of 8.00%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Investar Holding Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Investar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Investar's payout ratio is currently 19.18%.

Investar 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.