ISTR Investar Holding Corp

Nasdaq State Commercial Banks LA CIK: 0001602658
AI RATING
SELL
78% Confidence

Investment Thesis

Investar exhibits material financial distress signaled by interest coverage of 0.8x, indicating inability to cover debt service from operations. The severe divergence between 78.3% revenue growth and 7.9% net income growth points to margin compression and underlying operational deterioration. Critically weak returns (ROE 2.9%, ROA 0.3%) for a financial institution reflect poor capital efficiency and asset quality concerns.

Strengths

  • + Strong revenue growth of 78.3% YoY demonstrates significant market expansion and business activity
  • + Conservative capital structure with Debt/Equity of 0.02x provides financial flexibility and stress resilience
  • + Positive free cash flow of 3.6M demonstrates ability to generate cash despite profitability headwinds

Risks

  • ! Interest coverage of 0.8x signals inability to service debt obligations from operating income - critical red flag
  • ! Massive earnings growth deceleration (78.3% revenue vs 7.9% net income) indicates severe operational stress or margin compression
  • ! Extraordinarily low returns (ROE 2.9%, ROA 0.3%) reflect poor asset quality, credit issues, or ineffective capital deployment

Key Metrics to Watch

Financial Metrics

Revenue
53.2M
Net Income
12.0M
EPS (Diluted)
$0.77
Free Cash Flow
3.6M
Total Assets
3.9B
Cash
35.4M

Profitability Ratios

Gross Margin N/A
Operating Margin 28.0%
Net Margin 22.6%
ROE 2.9%
ROA 0.3%
FCF Margin 6.7%

Balance Sheet & Liquidity

Current Ratio
N/A
Quick Ratio
N/A
Debt/Equity
0.02x
Debt/Assets
89.3%
Interest Coverage
0.81x
Long-term Debt
9.8M
Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI based on publicly available SEC EDGAR filings. It does not include stock price data and should not be considered financial advice. All fundamental data is sourced from SEC public domain filings. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
Data Source: SEC EDGAR | Analysis Date: 2026-05-09T06:10:43.696698 | Data as of: 2026-03-31 | Powered by Claude AI