We recently published a list of Why These 15 Bank Stocks Are Plunging In 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) stands against other bank stocks that have been plunging in 2025.
Bank stocks are at a crossroads this year as we may finally see the Federal Reserve lower interest rates more. The Trump administration’s pressures will compound with the recent lower inflation report and the negative stock market performance, and this could impact banking companies significantly.
Despite the Fed’s “higher for longer” rate posture, inverted yield curves have compressed net interest margins while geopolitical tensions freeze cross-border capital flows. The result has been a bifurcated landscape where universal banks like JPMorgan have thrived on diversification, whereas mono-line lenders have buckled under stress.
The yield curve is no longer inverted, but recent tariff-related shocks and general uncertainty in the economy have brought on even more pain. It’s worth looking into the banks that are the worst caught in these crosscurrents if you’re looking to scoop up some value stocks.
Methodology
For this article, I screened the worst-performing bank stocks year-to-date.
I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A woman paying in a store with a debit card, highlighting the company’s debit card services.
Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 6
Investar Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ISTR) is a bank holding company for Investar Bank. It provides commercial and retail banking services.
The stock is down significantly so far in 2025 due to a decline in net interest income. Investar Holding (NASDAQ:ISTR) reported in its SEC Form 10-K filing that net interest income decreased by $4.8 million in fiscal year 2024.
This is mainly due to higher interest expenses on deposits and borrowings. This decline negatively impacted profitability despite overall net income growth.
Although EPS increased by 22% year-over-year, the share price failed to keep pace with earnings growth due to broader investor concerns about the banking industry.
The consensus price target of $20.5 implies 21.63% upside.
ISTR stock is down 23.36% year-to-date.
Overall, ISTR ranks 9th on our list of bank stocks that have been plunging in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of ISTR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than ISTR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
