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

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st.

Investar has increased its dividend by an average of 9.8% per year over the last three years. Investar has a dividend payout ratio of 18.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ISTR opened at $17.37 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.29. Investar has a twelve month low of $14.60 and a twelve month high of $24.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.68 million, a P/E ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.81.

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.26. Investar had a return on equity of 8.00% and a net margin of 12.81%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Investar will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ISTR. StockNews.com raised shares of Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler started 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.

About Investar

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.