Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) Short Interest Down 21.5% in November

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 176,500 shares, a decline of 21.5% from the October 31st total of 224,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 35,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Investar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Investar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ISTR remained flat at $23.82 during trading hours on Monday. 35,106 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 42,241. The company has a market capitalization of $234.15 million, a P/E ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.38. Investar has a one year low of $11.36 and a one year high of $24.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.12. Investar had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The business had revenue of $40.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.07 million. Research analysts expect that Investar will post 1.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Investar’s payout ratio is 23.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Investar

In other Investar news, Director Scott G. Ginn purchased 8,475 shares of Investar stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $23.68 per share, with a total value of $200,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $200,688. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 8.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Investar

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ISTR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Investar by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 251,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,869,000 after acquiring an additional 31,589 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Investar by 49.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 161,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 53,434 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Investar by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 5,774 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Investar by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 51,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 2,546 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Investar by 111.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 48,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 25,330 shares in the last quarter. 50.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.