Investar (ISTR) Competitors

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) and Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Does the media refer more to ISTR or AMTB?

In the previous week, Amerant Bancorp had 1 more articles in the media than Investar. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Amerant Bancorp and 1 mentions for Investar. Investar's average media sentiment score of 0.50 beat Amerant Bancorp's score of 0.00 indicating that Investar is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Investar	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Amerant Bancorp	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts prefer ISTR or AMTB?

Investar presently has a consensus price target of $27.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.40%. Amerant Bancorp has a consensus price target of $24.25, suggesting a potential upside of 30.90%. Given Amerant Bancorp's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Amerant Bancorp is more favorable than Investar.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Investar	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Amerant Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has better valuation & earnings, ISTR or AMTB?

Investar has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Amerant Bancorp. Amerant Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Investar, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Investar	$83.23M	2.55	$20.25M	$2.24	9.61
Amerant Bancorp	$330.31M	2.35	-$15.75M	-$0.20	-92.63

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ISTR or AMTB?

50.2% of Investar shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.1% of Amerant Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 8.8% of Investar shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Amerant Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is ISTR or AMTB a better dividend stock?

Investar pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Amerant Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Investar pays out 19.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Amerant Bancorp pays out -180.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Investar has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Investar is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, ISTR or AMTB?

Investar has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amerant Bancorp has a beta of 1.37, suggesting that its stock price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ISTR or AMTB more profitable?

Investar has a net margin of 14.33% compared to Amerant Bancorp's net margin of -8.38%. Investar's return on equity of 8.92% beat Amerant Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Investar	14.33%	8.92%	0.80%
Amerant Bancorp	-8.38%	6.36%	0.51%

Summary

Investar beats Amerant Bancorp on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.