Investar Holding Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.11 (NASDAQ:ISTR)

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.105 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Investar has raised its dividend by an average of 9.8% annually over the last three years. Investar has a dividend payout ratio of 18.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Investar to earn $2.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.8%.

Investar Price Performance

ISTR traded down $0.07 on Thursday, reaching $17.37. The stock had a trading volume of 12,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,346. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.79 and a 200-day moving average of $20.31. Investar has a fifty-two week low of $14.60 and a fifty-two week high of $24.81. The company has a market capitalization of $170.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Investar will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Investar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Piper Sandler started coverage on Investar in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company.

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.