Hovde Group Cuts Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Price Target to $20.00

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) had its price target lowered by Hovde Group from $20.50 to $20.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Hovde Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 24.22% from the company’s current price.

Investar Stock Up 2.4 %

Investar stock opened at $16.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $157.46 million, a PE ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.26. Investar has a twelve month low of $9.07 and a twelve month high of $17.99.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.14. Investar had a net margin of 11.94% and a return on equity of 8.64%. The firm had revenue of $20.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.84 million. On average, research analysts predict that Investar will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Banc Funds Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Investar by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 609,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,089,000 after purchasing an additional 16,918 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Investar by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 215,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,207,000 after purchasing an additional 34,175 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Investar by 231.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 40,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Investar during the 3rd quarter worth $149,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Investar by 23.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

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.