Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 3,332 Shares of Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its holdings in Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 27,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,332 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Investar were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Investar by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 341,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,497,000 after purchasing an additional 23,895 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Investar by 42.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 228,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,026,000 after buying an additional 67,695 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Investar by 55.3% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 191,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,196,000 after buying an additional 68,027 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Investar by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 145,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,204,000 after buying an additional 2,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhino Investment Partners Inc boosted its stake in Investar by 383.8% in the fourth quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 145,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,194,000 after buying an additional 115,387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Investar Stock Up 2.6%

ISTR opened at $22.38 on Friday. Investar Holding Corporation has a 12 month low of $14.91 and a 12 month high of $24.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.92. The company has a market cap of $220.22 million, a P/E ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 0.56.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $20.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.90 million. Investar had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 13.99%. On average, equities analysts expect that Investar Holding Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is 20.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Investar from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Investar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 17th.

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.