Investar (ISTR) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. It also provides commercial real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans, including working capital lines of credit and equipment loans; loans for the construction of commercial projects, and single family residential and multifamily properties; one-to-four family residential real estate loans, such as second mortgage loans; and consumer loans, such as secured and unsecured installment and term loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, and auto loans, as well as loans for personal, family, and household purposes. In addition, the company offers treasury management products, including remote deposit capture, lockbox payment processing, virtual vault, positive pay, ACH origination, wire transfer, investment sweep accounts, and business internet banking services. Further, it provides various other banking services, such as cashiers' checks, direct deposit of payroll and social security checks, night depository, bank-by-mail, automated teller machines, electronic statements, interactive teller machines, online account opening, and mobile wallet payment services. Investar Holding Corporation was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $21.42 to $22.50
• 50-Day Range: $19.84 to $24.45
• 52-Week Range: $14.50 to $24.81
• Volume: 99,827 shs
• Average Volume: 41,806 shs
• Market Capitalization: $219.75 million
• P/E Ratio: 12.49
• Dividend Yield: 1.88%
• Price Target: $20.00
• Consensus Rating: Buy

Investar Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Investar scored higher than 89% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 155th out of 935 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: 1.5 / 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 received no research coverage in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 11.59%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Investar are expected to grow by 11.59% in the coming year, from $1.64 to $1.83 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Investar is 12.49, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 115.15.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Investar is 12.49, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 28.49.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Investar has a P/B Ratio of 0.96. P/B Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 4.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.98% 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 4.9.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Investar has recently decreased by 5.10%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

Investar pays a meaningful dividend of 1.83%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Investar does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Investar is 23.46%. 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 22.95% 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

1.98% 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 4.9.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Investar has recently decreased by 5.10%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.1 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.84

News Sentiment

Investar has a news sentiment score of 0.84. 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 3 news articles for Investar this week, compared to 1 article on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Acquiring Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Investar insiders have bought more of their company's stock than they have sold. Specifically, they have bought $200,688.00 in company stock and sold $0.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 8.73% 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 $14.91 on January 1st, 2024. Since then, ISTR shares have increased by 50.0% and is now trading at $22.36.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How were Investar's earnings last quarter?

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October, 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.12. The financial services provider had revenue of $40.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.07 million. Investar had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 11.35%.

Who are Investar's major shareholders?

Investar's top institutional investors include Banc Funds Co. LLC (5.94%), Geode Capital Management LLC (2.26%), Franklin Resources Inc. (1.93%) and Wellington Management Group LLP (1.64%). Insiders that own company stock include John J D'angelo, Andrew C Nelson, Robert Chris Jordan, Linda M Crochet, Scott G Ginn, James M Baker, Rose J Hudson, John R Campbell and Jeffrey Wayne Martin.
View institutional ownership trends.

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.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

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

• Ex-Dividend for 10/31 Dividend: 9/30/2024
• Last Earnings: 10/21/2024
• Dividend Payable: 10/31/2024
• Today: 12/21/2024
• Ex-Dividend for 1/31 Dividend: 12/31/2024
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2024
• Dividend Payable: 1/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: State commercial banks
• Sub-Industry: Banking
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:ISTR
• CUSIP: N/A
• 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: $20.00
• High Stock Price Target: $20.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $20.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: -10.6%
• Consensus Rating: Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 3.00
• Research Coverage: 1 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $1.79
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 12.49
• Forward P/E Ratio: 13.63
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $16.68 million
• Net Margins: 11.35%
• Pretax Margin: 13.77%
• Return on Equity: 6.94%
• Return on Assets: 0.58%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.85
• Current Ratio: 0.95
• Quick Ratio: 0.95

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $80.05 million
• Price / Sales: 2.75
• Cash Flow: $2.21 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 10.11
• Book Value: $23.25 per share
• Price / Book: 0.96

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 9,828,000
• Free Float: 8,970,000
• Market Cap: $219.75 million
• Optionable: Not Optionable
• Beta: 0.79