Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 222,200 shares, an increase of 363.9% from the June 30th total of 47,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 65,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Investar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new stake in Investar during the 4th quarter worth about $180,000. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in Investar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Investar by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 215,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,207,000 after acquiring an additional 34,175 shares during the period. Banc Funds Co. LLC lifted its stake in Investar by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 609,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,089,000 after acquiring an additional 16,918 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Investar by 7.9% in the 1st 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 last quarter. 50.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ISTR has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Hovde Group reduced their target price on shares of Investar from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Investar Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of Investar stock traded up $0.44 during trading on Thursday, reaching $18.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 73,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,533. Investar has a 1-year low of $9.07 and a 1-year high of $18.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $183.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.78.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.06. Investar had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 10.04%. The business had revenue of $38.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Investar will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Investar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Investar’s payout ratio is 22.35%.

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.