Investar Holding Co. (ISTR) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 31st

Investar Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ISTR) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Investar has raised its dividend payment 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. 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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ISTR opened at $17.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Investar has a 52-week low of $14.60 and a 52-week high of $24.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.39 million, a PE ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ISTR shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on Investar in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Investar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday.

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.