Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.11

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 19th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.105 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

Investar has raised its dividend payment by an average of 16.5% per year over the last three years. Investar has a dividend payout ratio of 21.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Investar to earn $1.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.0%.

Investar Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of ISTR stock opened at $21.82 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.42 and a 200-day moving average of $19.00. Investar has a 12-month low of $14.10 and a 12-month high of $24.81. The company has a market capitalization of $214.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 0.79. 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 quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $40.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.07 million. Investar had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 11.35%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Investar will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Scott G. Ginn acquired 8,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $200,688. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

Investar Company Profile

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.