Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Purchases 3,200 Shares of Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.94% of Investar worth $2,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ISTR. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Investar by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Investar by 851.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 12,815 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Investar by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,190 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Investar by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 26,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 5,224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.17% of the company’s stock.

Investar Stock Performance

NASDAQ ISTR opened at $17.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.21 million, a PE ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 0.81. Investar Holding Co. has a 1-year low of $14.60 and a 1-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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.26. Investar had a net margin of 12.81% and a return on equity of 8.00%. On average, research analysts predict that Investar Holding Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Investar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ISTR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Investar in a report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

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.