Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Acquires 3,200 Shares of Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Investar were worth $2,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Investar by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Investar by 129.1% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 3,059 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Investar by 851.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 12,815 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Investar by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 5,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Investar by 25.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 26,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Investar Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ ISTR opened at $17.73 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.29. Investar Holding Co. has a one year low of $14.60 and a one year high of $24.81. The company has a market capitalization of $174.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 0.81. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.26. Investar had a net margin of 12.81% and a return on equity of 8.00%. Equities analysts forecast that Investar Holding Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Investar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Investar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ISTR shares. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Investar in a report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday.

Investar 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.