Investar (ISTR) Competitors $18.24 -0.24 (-1.30%) Closing price 04/25/2025 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$18.24 +0.01 (+0.03%) As of 04/25/2025 04:06 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. BFST, OSBC, FUFU, EQBK, MCB, IBCP, SMBC, VEL, FSBC, and XYFShould you be buying Investar stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Investar include Business First Bancshares (BFST), Old Second Bancorp (OSBC), BitFuFu (FUFU), Equity Bancshares (EQBK), Metropolitan Bank (MCB), Independent Bank (IBCP), Southern Missouri Bancorp (SMBC), Velocity Financial (VEL), Five Star Bancorp (FSBC), and X Financial (XYF). These companies are all part of the "banking" industry. Investar vs. Business First Bancshares Old Second Bancorp BitFuFu Equity Bancshares Metropolitan Bank Independent Bank Southern Missouri Bancorp Velocity Financial Five Star Bancorp X Financial Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) and Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, profitability, risk, earnings and community ranking. Is ISTR or BFST more profitable? Business First Bancshares has a net margin of 14.19% compared to Investar's net margin of 12.81%. Business First Bancshares' return on equity of 11.88% beat Investar's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Investar12.81% 8.00% 0.67% Business First Bancshares 14.19%11.88%1.05% Which has higher valuation & earnings, ISTR or BFST? Business First Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Investar. Investar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Business First Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioInvestar$82.41M2.17$20.25M$2.048.94Business First Bancshares$270.37M2.49$65.11M$2.439.35 Which has more volatility and risk, ISTR or BFST? Investar has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Business First Bancshares has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Is ISTR or BFST a better dividend stock? Investar pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Business First Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Investar pays out 20.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Business First Bancshares pays out 23.0% 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. Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ISTR or BFST? Investar received 90 more outperform votes than Business First Bancshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.00% of users gave Investar an outperform vote while only 58.41% of users gave Business First Bancshares an outperform vote. CompanyUnderperformOutperformInvestarOutperform Votes22260.00% Underperform Votes14840.00% Business First BancsharesOutperform Votes13258.41% Underperform Votes9441.59% Do analysts recommend ISTR or BFST? Investar currently has a consensus price target of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.61%. Business First Bancshares has a consensus price target of $31.00, indicating a potential upside of 36.38%. Given Business First Bancshares' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Business First Bancshares 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) 3.00Business First Bancshares 0 Sell rating(s) 0 Hold rating(s) 3 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 3.00 Does the media refer more to ISTR or BFST? In the previous week, Investar had 1 more articles in the media than Business First Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Investar and 11 mentions for Business First Bancshares. Business First Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 0.89 beat Investar's score of 0.61 indicating that Business First Bancshares 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) 1 Positive mention(s) 6 Neutral mention(s) 2 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Business First Bancshares 3 Very Positive mention(s) 1 Positive mention(s) 2 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in ISTR or BFST? 50.2% of Investar shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.3% of Business First Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.7% of Investar shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Business First Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. SummaryBusiness First Bancshares beats Investar on 13 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 {thisCompany.Symbol} 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 ExcelMetricInvestarState commercial banks IndustryFinance SectorNASDAQ ExchangeMarket Cap$179.14M$3.02B$11.13B$7.81BDividend Yield2.61%3.97%5.90%4.30%P/E Ratio8.9422.7721.9018.42Price / Sales2.172.9925.98101.46Price / Cash8.2810.6317.5934.62Price / Book0.781.152.644.19Net Income$20.25M$372.21M$1.03B$247.97M7 Day Performance12.52%3.77%2.62%6.52%1 Month Performance2.41%-3.25%-2.20%-2.17%1 Year Performance11.97%16.19%533.61%4.70% Investar Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)ISTRInvestar4.6087 of 5 stars$18.24-1.3%$22.00+20.6%+12.2%$179.14M$82.41M8.94340Earnings ReportAnalyst UpgradeNews CoverageBFSTBusiness First Bancshares4.0461 of 5 stars$22.48-1.1%$31.50+40.1%+4.4%$664.78M$270.37M9.95750Earnings ReportDividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastNews CoverageGap DownOSBCOld Second Bancorp3.6643 of 5 stars$14.68-0.7%$20.90+42.4%+10.2%$661.29M$279.90M7.85890Earnings ReportAnalyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionNews CoveragePositive NewsFUFUBitFuFu3.2037 of 5 stars$4.00-7.4%$7.00+75.0%+29.1%$652.43M$463.33M11.4329EQBKEquity Bancshares3.247 of 5 stars$36.72+0.7%$46.60+26.9%+12.5%$642.93M$225.03M9.23700MCBMetropolitan Bank3.286 of 5 stars$56.05+2.6%$78.13+39.4%+47.5%$629.16M$276.91M9.47240Earnings ReportPositive NewsIBCPIndependent Bank3.3799 of 5 stars$29.99-0.4%$39.17+30.6%+23.3%$628.98M$215.80M9.49920Earnings ReportDividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionNews CoverageSMBCSouthern Missouri Bancorp4.2464 of 5 stars$49.47+0.5%$70.00+41.5%+27.6%$591.61M$171.80M10.80540Earnings ReportAnalyst ForecastNews CoverageVELVelocity Financial2.5133 of 5 stars$17.19-1.4%$21.50+25.1%+4.9%$584.72M$211.74M9.29220Upcoming EarningsFSBCFive Star Bancorp4.7323 of 5 stars$26.27-0.5%$36.38+38.5%+23.5%$560.31M$124.96M11.52180Upcoming EarningsNews CoverageXYFX Financial1.2689 of 5 stars$11.20-4.6%N/A+263.3%$547.97M$2.56B2.96420News Coverage Related Companies and Tools Related Companies Business First Bancshares Alternatives Old Second Bancorp Alternatives BitFuFu Alternatives Equity Bancshares Alternatives Metropolitan Bank Alternatives Independent Bank Alternatives Southern Missouri Bancorp Alternatives Velocity Financial Alternatives Five Star Bancorp Alternatives X Financial 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 4/26/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersURGENT: Someone's Moving Gold Out of London...People who don’t understand the gold market are about to lose a lot of money. 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