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

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

Investar Stock Up 1.4 %

ISTR stock opened at $20.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.03. Investar has a 12 month low of $9.07 and a 12 month high of $21.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.25 million, a PE ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 0.78.

Investar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from Investar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Investar’s dividend payout ratio is 23.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.