Investar (ISTR) Competitors

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

Is ISTR or OSBC a better dividend stock?

Investar pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Old Second Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Investar pays out 19.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Old Second Bancorp pays out 13.1% 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.

Does the media prefer ISTR or OSBC?

In the previous week, Old Second Bancorp had 15 more articles in the media than Investar. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Old Second Bancorp and 3 mentions for Investar. Old Second Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.70 beat Investar's score of 0.47 indicating that Old Second Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Investar	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Old Second Bancorp	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ISTR or OSBC?

Old Second Bancorp received 110 more outperform votes than Investar when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 59.84% of users gave Investar an outperform vote while only 59.29% of users gave Old Second Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Investar	Outperform Votes 222 59.84%	Underperform Votes 149 40.16%
Old Second Bancorp	Outperform Votes 332 59.29%	Underperform Votes 228 40.71%

Do analysts recommend ISTR or OSBC?

Investar presently has a consensus price target of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.00%. Old Second Bancorp has a consensus price target of $20.10, indicating a potential upside of 27.30%. Given Old Second Bancorp's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Old Second 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
Old Second Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ISTR or OSBC?

50.2% of Investar shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.8% of Old Second Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.8% of Investar shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Old Second Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk & volatility, ISTR or OSBC?

Investar has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Old Second Bancorp has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ISTR or OSBC more profitable?

Old Second Bancorp has a net margin of 24.95% compared to Investar's net margin of 12.81%. Old Second Bancorp's return on equity of 13.73% beat Investar's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Investar	12.81%	8.00%	0.67%
Old Second Bancorp	24.95%	13.73%	1.52%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, ISTR or OSBC?

Old Second Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Investar. Old Second 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	2.26	$20.25M	$2.19	8.74
Old Second Bancorp	$282.62M	2.52	$85.26M	$1.83	8.63

Summary

Old Second Bancorp beats Investar on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.