Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.12 EPS

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Monday. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.12, Yahoo Finance reports. Investar had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 10.04%. The firm had revenue of $40.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.07 million.

Investar Price Performance

NASDAQ ISTR traded up $0.28 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.17. 15,314 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 43,321. The company has a market capitalization of $198.25 million, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.78. Investar has a 12-month low of $9.07 and a 12-month high of $21.03. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Investar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.105 dividend. This is an increase from Investar's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Investar's payout ratio is currently 23.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Investar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

About Investar

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.