Investar (ISTR) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Investar Holding Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that provides a full range of financial services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Investar Bank. The company focuses on community banking, offering personalized banking experiences and leveraging local market expertise. Investar Bank serves individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, and commercial clients across southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi through a network of branch offices and digital banking platforms.

The bank’s core offerings include traditional deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit, alongside lending solutions that cover commercial real estate, construction financing, equipment loans, residential mortgages and consumer credit. Investar Bank also provides treasury management, electronic payment services and online and mobile banking tools for 24-hour account access. Wealth management and trust services are available through strategic partnerships, enabling clients to pursue retirement planning, investment strategies and fiduciary solutions.

Since its founding in the early 2000s, Investar has pursued steady growth through the opening of new branches and selective acquisitions, reinforcing its commitment to the local communities it serves. The bank’s expansion strategy emphasizes markets with strong economic fundamentals, while preserving the “community bank” ethos that prioritizes relationship-based service and local decision-making. Over the years, Investar has supported regional development initiatives by providing financing to small businesses, agricultural enterprises and residential projects.

Investar’s leadership team brings decades of financial services experience in risk management, commercial lending and retail banking. Guided by a board of directors with deep ties to the Gulf Coast region, the management group emphasizes prudent asset quality, customer service excellence and community engagement. This alignment of strategic vision and local insight underpins Investar’s ongoing efforts to deliver tailored financial solutions and foster long-term client relationships.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $22.01 to $22.44
• 50-Day Range: $18.00 to $22.38
• 52-Week Range: $15.00 to $24.81
• Volume: 26,022 shs
• Average Volume: 38,532 shs
• Market Capitalization: $218.76 million
• P/E Ratio: 10.15
• Dividend Yield: 1.98%
• Price Target: $27.00
• Consensus Rating: Buy

Investar Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Investar scored higher than 97% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 44th out of 906 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Buy

Consensus Rating

Investar has received a consensus rating of Buy. The company's average rating score is 3.00, and is based on 1 buy rating, no hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Investar has only been the subject of 1 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 3.8 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 28.96%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Investar are expected to grow by 28.96% in the coming year, from $1.83 to $2.36 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Investar is 10.15, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 25.92.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Investar is 10.15, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 20.00.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Investar has a P/B Ratio of 0.91. P/B Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.30% of the float of Investar has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Investar has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.8, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Investar has recently increased by 3.09%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

Investar pays a meaningful dividend of 1.96%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Investar has been increasing its dividend for 10 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Investar is 20.09%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Investar will have a dividend payout ratio of 18.64% next year. This indicates that Investar will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• Environmental Score: -0.75

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.30% of the float of Investar has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Investar has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.8, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Investar has recently increased by 3.09%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.83

News Sentiment

Investar has a news sentiment score of 0.83. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This news sentiment score is similar to the average news sentiment of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 4 news articles for Investar this week, compared to 1 article on an average week.

MarketBeat Follows

2 people have added Investar to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 100% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Investar insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 8.81% of the stock of Investar is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

50.17% of the stock of Investar is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

ISTR Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have ISTR shares performed this year?

Investar's stock was trading at $21.96 on January 1st, 2025. Since then, ISTR shares have increased by 1.2% and is now trading at $22.22.

How were Investar's earnings last quarter?

Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) released its earnings results on Monday, April, 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.29. The financial services provider had revenue of $20.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.90 million. Investar had a net margin of 13.99% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 8.60%.

How do I buy shares of Investar?

Shares of ISTR stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Investar own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Investar investors own include JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Tesla (TSLA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), NVIDIA (NVDA), Walmart (WMT), Home Depot (HD) and Meta Platforms (META).

Company Calendar

• Record date for 4/30 Dividend: 3/31/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 4/30 Dividend: 3/31/2025
• Last Earnings: 4/21/2025
• Dividend Payable: 4/30/2025
• Record date for 7/31 Dividend: 6/30/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 7/31 Dividend: 6/30/2025
• Today: 7/08/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 7/28/2025
• Dividend Payable: 7/31/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: BANKS - SOUTHEAST
• Sub-Industry: Banking
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:ISTR
• CIK: 1602658
• Web: www.investarbank.com
• Phone: (225) 227-2222
• Fax: 225-300-8527
• Employees: 340
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $27.00
• High Stock Price Target: $27.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $27.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +22.6%
• Consensus Rating: Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 3.00
• Research Coverage: 1 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $2.19
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 10.05
• Forward P/E Ratio: 12.03
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $20.25 million
• Net Margins: 13.99%
• Pretax Margin: 16.68%
• Return on Equity: 8.60%
• Return on Assets: 0.75%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.30
• Current Ratio: 0.89
• Quick Ratio: 0.89

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $158.07 million
• Price / Sales: 1.37
• Cash Flow: $2.18 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 10.10
• Book Value: $24.55 per share
• Price / Book: 0.90

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 9,840,000
• Free Float: 8,978,000
• Market Cap: $216.68 million
• Optionable: Not Optionable
• Beta: 0.56