Boston Partners Sells 24,793 Shares of Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR)

Boston Partners trimmed its holdings in Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) by 36.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,793 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 0.44% of Investar worth $951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Investar by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 51,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Investar in the third quarter worth about $572,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Investar by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,706 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Investar by 851.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 12,815 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 3,059 shares during the last quarter. 50.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ISTR shares. Piper Sandler began coverage on Investar in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Investar Trading Up 2.1 %

ISTR opened at $17.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 0.81. Investar Holding Co. has a one year low of $14.60 and a one year high of $24.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts predict that Investar Holding Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Investar Dividend Announcement

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

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.