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

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 19th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

Investar has raised its dividend by an average of 16.5% per year over the last three years. Investar has a dividend payout ratio of 21.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 Up 2.5 %

Shares of Investar stock opened at $22.36 on Friday. Investar has a 12-month low of $14.50 and a 12-month high of $24.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.75 million, a P/E ratio of 12.49 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.04.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Scott G. Ginn bought 8,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were acquired 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 $200,688. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.