Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.12

Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of 0.12 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, October 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th.

Investar has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 10 years. Investar has a dividend payout ratio of 21.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Investar to earn $3.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.6%.

Investar Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ ISTR opened at $30.33 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $417.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Investar has a 12 month low of $21.43 and a 12 month high of $31.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.97.

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

Institutional Trading of Investar

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Investar by 1.0% during the 4th 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 period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Investar during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Investar by 9.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 64,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 5,746 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Investar in the second quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in Investar in the second quarter worth about $212,000. 50.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Investar

Investar Holding Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Its principal subsidiary, Investar Bank, is a community bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and institutions.

Investar Bank offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts, along with lending services. Its loan activities include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate and construction financing, residential mortgage loans and consumer credit.