Investar Q3 profit rises on wider interest margin, lower acquisition costs

By Reuters News


Overview

  • U.S. regional bank's Q3 adjusted EPS beat analyst expectations

  • Company's net interest margin improved to 3.73% in Q3

  • Company repurchased 25,113 shares during Q3


Outlook

  • Company says it is positioned for future growth organically and via acquisitions

  • Company says recent purchase of variable-rate credit lines and higher-rate loan production support portfolio remixing

  • Investar plans to continue shifting loan mix toward higher-yielding commercial and industrial loans


Result Drivers

  • MARGIN IMPROVEMENT - Higher earning-asset yields and acquisition-related accretion lifted net interest margin from the prior quarter

  • LOAN PORTFOLIO SHIFT - C&I production drove growth in business lending while acquired consumer mortgages continued to run off

  • CREDIT LOSS REVERSAL - Co recorded a reversal of credit losses due to changes in economic forecast and loan mix


Company press release:


Key Details

Metric

Beat/Miss

Actual

Consensus Estimate

Q3 Adjusted EPS

Beat

$0.77

$0.76 (3 Analysts)

Q3 EPS

$0.74

Q3 Net Income

$11.66 mln

Q3 Net Interest Income

$33.77 mln

Q3 Net Interest Margin (%)

3.73%


Analyst Coverage

  • 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 $34.00, about 18.3% above its October 21 closing price of $28.74

  • The stock recently traded at 9 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 9 three months ago


Reuters Recommended Reads

  • Oct 22 - Associated Banc-Corp Q3 adjusted EPS beats estimates

  • Oct 22 - S&T Bancorp's Q3 EPS rises to record high

  • Oct 21 - Pinnacle Financial Partners Q3 adjusted profit beats estimates on loan, fee income growth


For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.


(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)

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