Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Share Price Passes Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR)’s share price passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.62 and traded as high as $30.09. Investar shares last traded at $29.46, with a volume of 157,708 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ISTR. Zacks Research lowered Investar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Investar from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $31.50 price target on shares of Investar in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Investar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Investar Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $406.25 million, a PE ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.18. Investar had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.53%.The company had revenue of $35.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.40 million. Research analysts forecast that Investar Holding Corporation will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is an increase from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Investar’s payout ratio is 19.30%.

Institutional Trading of Investar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fourthstone LLC increased its stake in shares of Investar by 148.7% in the 4th quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 695,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,597,000 after acquiring an additional 416,145 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Investar by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 437,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,928,000 after acquiring an additional 26,842 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Investar by 4.1% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 431,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,010,000 after acquiring an additional 17,015 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Investar by 1.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 230,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,455,000 after acquiring an additional 2,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Investar by 50.0% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 163,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,452,000 after purchasing an additional 54,447 shares during the period. 50.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Investar

Investar Holdings, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, operating through its primary subsidiary, Investar Bank. The company delivers commercial and consumer banking products across southeastern Louisiana and into select Texas markets, focusing on relationship-driven service. Investar Bank’s offerings include deposit accounts, lending solutions, online and mobile banking, and treasury management services.

Its lending portfolio encompasses commercial real estate financing, construction and development loans, commercial and industrial credits, agricultural loans, and residential mortgage originations.