Short Interest in Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) Decreases By 12.2%

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 224,700 shares, a drop of 12.2% from the October 15th total of 255,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 39,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.7 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Investar

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Investar in the 1st quarter worth approximately $504,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Investar by 2,810.1% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 10,257 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Investar by 7.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 3,325 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Investar by 14.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 99,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 12,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Investar by 14.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 31,589 shares during the period. 50.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Investar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Investar Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:ISTR opened at $23.59 on Monday. Investar has a 52 week low of $9.83 and a 52 week high of $24.26. The stock has a market cap of $231.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

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

Investar Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. This is a boost from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.46%.

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.