Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.12 EPS

Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.12, Yahoo Finance reports. The company had revenue of $40.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.07 million. Investar had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 6.69%.

Investar Trading Up 3.2 %

Investar stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $20.81. The company had a trading volume of 40,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,308. The firm has a market cap of $204.54 million, a P/E ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Investar has a 1 year low of $9.07 and a 1 year high of $21.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.03.

Investar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Investar’s payout ratio is currently 23.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday.

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.