Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 87,095 Shares of Investar Holding Corporation $ISTR

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) by 240.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 87,095 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Investar were worth $3,361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Investar by 440.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 2,363 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Investar by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Investar by 24.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Investar by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Investar by 12.8% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. 50.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ISTR. Zacks Research raised shares of Investar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Investar from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $31.50 price objective on shares of Investar in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $31.50.

Investar Price Performance

NASDAQ:ISTR opened at $30.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $414.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.68. Investar Holding Corporation has a 1 year low of $21.35 and a 1 year high of $31.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.04. Investar had a net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 12.44%. The business had revenue of $36.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.35 million. Equities analysts forecast that Investar Holding Corporation will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Investar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This is an increase from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Investar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.75%.

Investar Profile

Investar Holdings, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, operating through its primary subsidiary, Investar Bank. The company delivers commercial and consumer banking products across southeastern Louisiana and into select Texas markets, focusing on relationship-driven service. Investar Bank’s offerings include deposit accounts, lending solutions, online and mobile banking, and treasury management services.

Its lending portfolio encompasses commercial real estate financing, construction and development loans, commercial and industrial credits, agricultural loans, and residential mortgage originations.