Investar Holding (ISTR) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $364.65M
• Dividend Yield: 1.57%
• Average Volume (3M): 37.74K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 11.5
• Beta (1Y): 0.93
• Revenue Growth: -0.34%
• EPS Growth: 27.03%
• Country: US
• Employees: 329
• Sector: Financial
• Sector Strength: 70
• Industry: Banks - Regional
• EPS (TTM): 0.58
• Shares Outstanding: 13,750,025
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 35,828
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 37,740
• PEG Ratio: 1.48
• Price to Book (P/B): 0.87
• Price to Sales (P/S): 1.71
• P/FCF Ratio: 15.06
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.06
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 2.52
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 4.13
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 12.64
• 1Y Price Target: N/A
• Price Target Upside: N/A
• Rating Consensus: N/A
• Number of Analyst Covering: 0
• EPS Forecast (FY): 3.2
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $154.60M

• Rating: 58 Neutral
• Price Target: $28.00 ▲(0.21% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 03/17/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 03/17/26

The score is driven primarily by decent but uneven financial performance (improving margins and growing equity, but negative revenue growth and weakening operating cash flow). Technicals are a notable drag due to bearish near-term momentum and oversold readings. Valuation provides support with a modest P/E and dividend yield, while the completed acquisition is a positive strategic catalyst but comes with integration and execution considerations.

Positive Factors

Strategic acquisition expands Texas footprint and scale

Closing the Wichita Falls Bancshares deal materially increases Investar’s Texas franchise and balance-sheet scale, adding a sizable deposit and loan base. This provides durable benefits: stronger funding diversity, cross-sell potential and scale economies that support sustainable growth and return on capital.

Improving net margins

Margin improvement signals better pricing and expense control, driving higher earnings quality even with top-line softness. Sustained margin expansion enhances internal capital generation, supports dividend capacity and buffers profitability through interest-rate cycles over the medium term.

Stronger equity base supports resilience

Meaningful equity growth strengthens regulatory and loss-absorption capacity, enabling continued lending and potential M&A without immediately diluting capital. A larger capital base improves financial flexibility and positions the bank to fund growth and navigate credit cycles over coming quarters.

Negative Factors

Negative revenue growth trend

A contraction in revenue momentum reduces the runway for sustainable loan and fee income expansion and limits operating leverage. If top-line weakness persists, this constrains reinvestment, compresses future EPS growth potential and raises sensitivity to rising funding costs.

Weakened operating cash flow

Declining operating cash flow lowers financial flexibility to fund growth, repay assumed acquisition liabilities, or absorb shocks without external financing. Cash volatility versus earnings increases execution risk for investments and makes capital planning less predictable across the next several quarters.

Added subordinated obligations and variable leverage

Taking on junior subordinated debt and a repayable note raises holding-company obligations and modestly increases leverage. Given past swings in debt-to-equity, the added obligations amplify execution and capital-structure risk during integration, potentially pressuring regulatory ratios or funding costs.

Investar Holding Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Investar Holding Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Investar Bank that provides a range of commercial banking products to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in South Louisiana. 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 cards; and mobile banking services. It also provides commercial real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans, including working capital lines of credit and equipment loans; loans for the construction of commercial projects, and single family residential and multifamily properties; one-to-four family residential real estate lending, such as second mortgage loans; consumer loans, such as secured and unsecured installment and term loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, and auto loans, as well as loans for personal, family, and household purposes. In addition, the company offers cash management products, including remote deposit capture, virtual vault, electronic statements, positive pay, ACH origination and wire transfer, investment sweep accounts, and business Internet banking services. Further, it provides various other banking services, such as cashiers' checks, direct deposit of payroll and social security checks, night depository, bank-by-mail, automated teller machine, interactive teller machines, merchant card, and mobile wallet payment services. The company operates through a network of 24 full service branches. Investar Holding Corporation was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

How the Company Makes Money

Investar Holding generates revenue primarily through interest income from loans and investments, as well as non-interest income from fees and services. The key revenue streams include net interest income, which comes from the interest earned on loans and other financial products, and non-interest income, which is derived from service fees, mortgage origination fees, and other banking services. Additionally, the company benefits from its strategic partnerships and relationships with local businesses and community organizations, enhancing its customer base and contributing to its earnings through increased lending and deposit activities.

Investar Holding Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Financials are solid but mixed: profitability improved in 2025 (net margin ~14.9% vs ~12.9% in 2024) and equity has grown meaningfully, supporting balance-sheet resilience. Offsetting this, revenue growth turned negative in 2025 (-1.09%) and operating cash flow declined sharply, reducing flexibility; leverage is moderate but has shown year-to-year variability.

Income Statement

Revenue growth has turned negative in 2025 (-1.09%) after solid expansion in 2022–2024, suggesting momentum has cooled. Profitability improved versus 2023–2024, with 2025 net margin rising to ~14.9% (from ~12.9% in 2024) and operating profitability also ticking up, indicating better expense control/pricing. However, profitability remains well below the unusually strong 2022 levels, highlighting some earnings volatility across the cycle.

Balance Sheet

Leverage appears moderate and manageable in recent years, with debt-to-equity at ~0.51 in 2025 (up from ~0.38 in 2023), implying a somewhat higher but still reasonable balance sheet risk profile for a regional bank. Equity has grown meaningfully (from ~$227M in 2023 to ~$301M in 2025), supporting capacity to absorb losses. Returns on equity are steady but not high (~7.6% in 2025 vs ~8.4% in 2024), and the sharp leverage spike in 2022 (debt-to-equity ~2.04) signals the capital structure can shift materially year to year.

Cash Flow

Cash generation weakened in 2025, with operating cash flow falling to ~$9.7M (from ~$15.9M in 2024 and ~$26.2M in 2023) and free cash flow down ~26.9% year over year. Free cash flow roughly matches net income in 2025 (ratio ~1.0), which is a positive quality-of-earnings signal, but the downward trend in operating cash flow reduces financial flexibility. Overall cash flow looks more volatile than earnings over the period.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	153.49M	156.52M	141.06M	123.18M	107.99M
Gross Profit	93.56M	85.89M	84.38M	105.47M	73.38M
EBITDA	30.60M	27.50M	24.21M	48.78M	14.90M
Net Income	22.90M	20.25M	16.68M	35.71M	8.00M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	2.83B	2.72B	2.82B	2.75B	2.51B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	397.22M	34.12M	393.93M	445.23M	452.05M
Total Debt	152.75M	101.02M	85.08M	439.74M	135.66M
Total Liabilities	2.53B	2.48B	2.59B	2.54B	2.27B
Stockholders Equity	301.07M	241.30M	226.77M	215.78M	242.60M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	17.45M	15.42M	25.18M	41.69M	30.16M
Operating Cash Flow	9.69M	15.93M	26.25M	42.75M	33.48M
Investing Cash Flow	-23.88M	90.06M	-73.49M	-350.99M	53.40M
Financing Cash Flow	23.37M	-110.08M	38.99M	251.46M	-25.21M

Investar Holding Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 27.94
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For ISTR, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 27.94 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 27.66, below the 50-day MA of 28.20, and above the 200-day MA of 24.29, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of -0.53 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 35.00 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 26.34 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for ISTR.

Investar Holding Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
OVLY	75 Outperform	$258.11M	10.36	12.74%	1.99%	5.50%	-5.19%
NWFL	70 Outperform	$314.71M	8.63	12.03%	4.21%	-4.66%	-58.94%
FUNC	69 Neutral	$234.50M	9.91	12.61%	2.38%	11.72%	55.87%
Sector *	68 Neutral	$18.00B	11.42	9.92%	3.81%	9.73%	1.22%
ISTR	58 Neutral	$364.65M	11.48	8.30%	1.57%	-0.34%	27.03%
FVCB	58 Neutral	$262.87M	11.43	8.92%	0.87%	16.68%	322.32%

Investar Holding Corporate Events

Investar Holding closes Wichita Falls Bancshares acquisition

On January 1, 2026, Investar Holding Corporation completed its acquisition of Wichita Falls Bancshares, Inc., parent of First National Bank in Wichita Falls, Texas, under a July 2025 merger agreement in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at about $112.9 million based on Investar’s December 31, 2025 share price. All Wichita Falls shares were converted into $7.2 million in cash and 3,955,334 Investar common shares, and Investar assumed $9.3 million of junior subordinated debentures supporting $9.0 million of trust preferred securities, as well as a $10.0 million note to TIB, N.A., which the company expects to repay in full in January 2026; the trust preferred securities are intended to qualify as Tier 1 capital at the holding company level. As part of the deal, effective January 1, 2026, former Wichita Falls and FNB directors David Flack and James Dunkerley joined the boards of Investar and Investar Bank as independent directors and were assigned to key board committees, reflecting a governance integration aimed at leveraging their relationships in the north Dallas and Wichita Falls markets. The transaction extends Investar’s community banking footprint into the north Dallas and Wichita Falls regions, adds a franchise with $1.2 billion in assets, $1.0 billion in net loans and $1.0 billion in deposits as of December 31, 2025, and advances its multi-state expansion strategy by significantly increasing its Texas presence and balance sheet scale for shareholders and other stakeholders.

The most recent analyst rating on (ISTR) stock is a Hold with a $29.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Investar Holding stock, see the ISTR Stock Forecast page.