Investar Holding Corporation $ISTR Shares Acquired by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) by 92.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,272 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Investar were worth $1,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ISTR. Fourthstone LLC grew its stake in Investar by 148.7% during the 4th quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 695,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,597,000 after buying an additional 416,145 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Investar by 6.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 437,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,928,000 after buying an additional 26,842 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Investar by 4.1% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 431,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,010,000 after buying an additional 17,015 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Investar by 1.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 230,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,455,000 after buying an additional 2,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Investar by 0.6% in the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 139,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the period. 50.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ISTR. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Investar from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $31.50 price target on shares of Investar in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Investar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $31.50.

Investar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ISTR opened at $30.06 on Monday. Investar Holding Corporation has a 12-month low of $21.35 and a 12-month high of $31.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.68. The firm has a market cap of $414.65 million, a P/E ratio of 12.37 and a beta of 0.45.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.04. Investar had a return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 17.55%.The firm had revenue of $36.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.35 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Investar Holding Corporation will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This is an increase from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Investar’s payout ratio is currently 19.75%.

Investar Company Profile

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.