Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on ISTR. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Investar in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Investar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Investar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Investar Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ ISTR opened at $30.80 on Friday. Investar has a 12 month low of $21.43 and a 12 month high of $31.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.95. The stock has a market cap of $424.42 million, a P/E ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.45.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $36.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.35 million. Investar had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 17.55%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Investar will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Investar

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ISTR. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Investar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,649,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Investar by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 437,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,928,000 after buying an additional 26,842 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Investar during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,057,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Investar by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 163,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,452,000 after buying an additional 54,447 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Investar by 240.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 123,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,361,000 after buying an additional 87,095 shares during the last quarter. 50.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Investar Company Profile

Investar Holding Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Its principal subsidiary, Investar Bank, is a community bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and institutions.

Investar Bank offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts, along with lending services. Its loan activities include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate and construction financing, residential mortgage loans and consumer credit.