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Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) will increase its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 31st of October to $0.095. This takes the annual payment to 1.8% of the current stock price, which unfortunately is below what the industry is paying.
View our latest analysis for Investar Holding
Investar Holding's Dividend Forecasted To Be Well Covered By Earnings
If it is predictable over a long period, even low dividend yields can be attractive.
Investar Holding has a good history of paying out dividends, with its current track record at 8 years. While past data isn't a guarantee for the future, Investar Holding's latest earnings report puts its payout ratio at 21%, showing that the company can pay out its dividends comfortably.
Looking forward, EPS is forecast to rise by 79.1% over the next 3 years. The future payout ratio could be 13% over that time period, according to analyst estimates, which is a good look for the future of the dividend.
Investar Holding Doesn't Have A Long Payment History
Investar Holding's dividend has been pretty stable for a little while now, but we will continue to be cautious until it has been demonstrated for a few more years. Since 2014, the annual payment back then was $0.0272, compared to the most recent full-year payment of $0.36. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 38% per annum over that time. The dividend has been growing rapidly, however with such a short payment history we can't know for sure if payment can continue to grow over the long term, so caution may be warranted.
We Could See Investar Holding's Dividend Growing
Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. Investar Holding has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 9.9% per annum. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Investar Holding's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.
Investar Holding Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock
Overall, we think this could be an attractive income stock, and it is only getting better by paying a higher dividend this year. Earnings are easily covering distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.
It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Just as an example, we've come across 2 warning signs for Investar Holding you should be aware of, and 1 of them is potentially serious. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.