Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) Short Interest Up 363.9% in July

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 222,200 shares, a growth of 363.9% from the June 30th total of 47,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 65,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Investar

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Investar by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 215,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,207,000 after purchasing an additional 34,175 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Investar by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 3,325 shares during the last quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC grew its position in shares of 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. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Investar in the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new position in Investar in the 4th quarter worth $180,000. Institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Investar Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:ISTR traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.78. 54,965 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 43,613. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Investar has a 12-month low of $9.07 and a 12-month high of $18.99.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $38.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 million. Investar had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 6.76%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Investar will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Investar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is 22.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.