Margin improvement - Net interest margin rose due to lower cost of funds and a shift to lower-cost, non-maturing deposits
Loan portfolio shift - Company continued strategy to let consumer mortgage loans run off and increase business lending, especially commercial and industrial loans
Higher noninterest expense - Noninterest expense rose due to acquisition costs, hiring of commercial bankers, and increased salaries and benefits
Outlook and analyst coverage
Investar expects future growth both organically and through potential acquisitions
The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 2 "strong buy" or "buy", 1 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"
The average consensus recommendation for the banks peer group is "buy"
Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Investar Holding Corp is $33.50, about 12.2% above its July 17 closing price of $29.87
The stock recently traded at 9 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 8 three months ago
Quarterly results and margin improvement
U.S. regional bank's Q2 adjusted EPS beat analyst expectations
Net interest margin improved to 3.67% from 3.59% in the previous quarter
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