Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on ISTR. Wall Street Zen upgraded Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Investar in a report on Thursday, August 27th. One 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 an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.50.

Investar Stock Performance

Shares of ISTR opened at $29.76 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $410.09 million, a P/E ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.87. Investar has a 12-month low of $21.43 and a 12-month high of $31.77.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $36.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.35 million. Investar had a net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 11.65%. As a group, research analysts predict that Investar will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Investar

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ISTR. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Investar by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,241,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Investar by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Investar by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 139,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Investar by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

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.