Investar (ISTR) Competitors $21.96 -0.14 (-0.63%) Closing price 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$21.94 -0.02 (-0.07%) As of 04:04 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsHeadlinesInsider TradesOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock ISTR vs. OSBC, ATLC, AMTB, HBT, ESQ, NBN, MCB, XYF, BFST, and NBBKShould you be buying Investar stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Investar include Old Second Bancorp (OSBC), Atlanticus (ATLC), Amerant Bancorp (AMTB), HBT Financial (HBT), Esquire Financial (ESQ), Northeast Bancorp (NBN), Metropolitan Bank (MCB), X Financial (XYF), Business First Bancshares (BFST), and NB Bancorp (NBBK). These companies are all part of the "banking" industry. Investar vs. Its Competitors Old Second Bancorp Atlanticus Amerant Bancorp HBT Financial Esquire Financial Northeast Bancorp Metropolitan Bank X Financial Business First Bancshares NB Bancorp 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 media sentiment, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation. Do analysts recommend ISTR or OSBC? Investar currently has a consensus price target of $27.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.95%. Old Second Bancorp has a consensus price target of $20.50, suggesting a potential upside of 9.92%. Given Investar's higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Investar is more favorable than Old Second Bancorp.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) 3.00Old Second Bancorp 0 Sell rating(s) 1 Hold rating(s) 3 Buy rating(s) 1 Strong Buy rating(s) 3.00 Does the media prefer ISTR or OSBC? In the previous week, Old Second Bancorp had 3 more articles in the media than Investar. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Old Second Bancorp and 2 mentions for Investar. Old Second Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.55 beat Investar's score of 0.96 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) Positive Old Second Bancorp 4 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 0 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Very Positive Which has more volatility and risk, ISTR or OSBC? Investar has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Old Second Bancorp has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Which has preferable valuation and earnings, ISTR or OSBC? Old Second Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Investar. Investar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Old Second Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioInvestar$158.07M1.37$20.25M$2.1910.03Old Second Bancorp$341.72M2.46$85.26M$1.8310.19 Is ISTR or OSBC a better dividend stock? Investar pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Old Second Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Investar pays out 20.1% 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. Investar has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Old Second Bancorp has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Investar is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth. Is ISTR or OSBC more profitable? Old Second Bancorp has a net margin of 24.52% compared to Investar's net margin of 13.99%. Old Second Bancorp's return on equity of 12.87% beat Investar's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Investar13.99% 8.60% 0.75% Old Second Bancorp 24.52%12.87%1.50% Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ISTR or OSBC? 50.2% of Investar shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.8% of Old Second Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 8.8% of Investar shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Old Second Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. SummaryOld Second Bancorp beats Investar on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Investar News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for ISTR and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding ISTR and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart ISTR vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricInvestarBANKS IndustryFinance SectorNASDAQ ExchangeMarket Cap$217.57M$2.00B$12.11B$9.41BDividend Yield1.99%2.60%5.56%4.03%P/E Ratio10.0312.2218.3720.09Price / Sales1.372.3426.0799.01Price / Cash9.9512.5621.6858.27Price / Book0.891.222.315.65Net Income$20.25M$154.64M$997.60M$257.91M7 Day Performance-0.09%1.41%0.42%2.09%1 Month Performance20.26%9.05%4.37%11.13%1 Year Performance25.49%18.19%541.75%18.40% Investar Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)ISTRInvestar4.8272 of 5 stars$21.96-0.6%$27.00+23.0%+23.9%$217.57M$158.07M10.03340OSBCOld Second Bancorp3.0088 of 5 stars$18.96+1.4%$20.50+8.1%+11.0%$854.26M$282.62M10.36890Positive NewsDividend AnnouncementATLCAtlanticus2.9234 of 5 stars$55.40-0.5%$62.60+13.0%+51.8%$838.20M$1.31B10.72330News CoverageAnalyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionHigh Trading VolumeAMTBAmerant Bancorp2.1826 of 5 stars$19.96+1.2%$24.60+23.2%-25.5%$834.99M$317.91M-35.02680Upcoming EarningsHBTHBT Financial3.159 of 5 stars$26.25+1.8%$25.80-1.7%+8.3%$826.88M$287.27M11.03730News CoverageESQEsquire Financial1.8055 of 5 stars$97.64+1.2%$96.50-1.2%+76.8%$826.03M$138.27M18.46110Upcoming EarningsNBNNortheast Bancorp3.1525 of 5 stars$98.80+3.3%$97.50-1.3%+39.2%$811.15M$263.77M10.99180High Trading VolumeMCBMetropolitan Bank2.564 of 5 stars$75.58+3.0%$77.00+1.9%+36.1%$805.67M$492.21M12.79240Trending NewsEarnings ReportDividend AnnouncementBuyback AnnouncementGap UpXYFX Financial3.145 of 5 stars$19.04-0.6%N/A+321.3%$795.32M$804.43M3.97420Positive NewsHigh Trading VolumeBFSTBusiness First Bancshares3.8959 of 5 stars$26.38+2.4%$30.50+15.6%+7.1%$783.22M$458.96M10.86750NBBKNB Bancorp2.4334 of 5 stars$19.26+1.5%$22.00+14.2%+4.7%$781.38M$304.05M16.32342Positive NewsUpcoming Earnings Related Companies and Tools Related Companies Old Second Bancorp Alternatives Atlanticus Alternatives Amerant Bancorp Alternatives HBT Financial Alternatives Esquire Financial Alternatives Northeast Bancorp Alternatives Metropolitan Bank Alternatives X Financial Alternatives Business First Bancshares Alternatives NB Bancorp Alternatives Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NASDAQ:ISTR) was last updated on 7/18/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersUtah’s New Oil FindThe Real Reason 218,000 Acres Just Vanished The government just quietly leased 218,000 acres in the middle ...Stansberry Research | SponsoredMarket Panic: Trump Just Dropped a Bomb on Your Stockstock Market Panic: Trump Just Dropped a Bomb on Your Stocks The market is in freefall—and Trump's new tarif...American Alternative | SponsoredCritical AI announcement set to ignite AI 2.0 I just put together an urgent new presentation that you need to see right away. 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