Investar Holding Corporation ISTR

Competitive advantage analysis · financial-services

Bank Specialized
Overall moat score
42/100
Developing

About Investar Holding Corporation

Investar Holding Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Investar Bank that provides a range of commercial banking products to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in south Louisiana, southeast Texas, and Alabama in the United States. The company offers various deposit products and services, such as savings, checking, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as … Full ISTR analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key risks

  • Weak Deposit Franchise Deposit franchise appears weak (profitability score 0.37).
  • Weak Net Interest Margin Net interest margin proxy is weak (score 0.38).

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Deposit Franchise

Developing
32

Where ISTR ranks in Banks - Regional

Investar Holding Corporation ranks #254 of 393 scored companies in Banks - Regional by moat score — the top 65%. The widest moat in the group is 1st Source Corporation (SRCE) at 86/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near ISTR in Banks - Regional
# Company Moat score Rating
250 Capitol Federal Financial, Inc. CFFN 43/100 Developing
251 Citizens & Northern Corp CZNC 43/100 Developing
252 Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. LOB 43/100 Developing
253 Union Bankshares, Inc. UNB 43/100 Developing
254 Investar Holding Corporation ISTR 42/100 Developing
255 LendingClub Corporation LC 42/100 Developing
256 Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. SFBC 42/100 Developing
257 Western Alliance Bancorporation WAL 42/100 Developing
258 ECB Bancorp, Inc. ECBK 42/100 Developing

See every Banks & Lenders company ranked by moat score →

How ISTR scores on the Bank Specialized defenses

Deposit Franchise

Score 32 · 22% of the moat score

A deposit franchise is the cheapest and most valuable thing a bank can own.

Lending Advantage

Score 40 · 18% of the moat score

Lending advantage is the ability to originate loans at attractive spreads without buying that volume with looser credit standards.

Capital Strength

Score 40 · 20% of the moat score

Capital is the buffer between loan losses and insolvency, and it is what regulators judge a bank on first.

Cost Discipline

Score 54 · 16% of the moat score

Banking carries high fixed costs in branches, compliance and technology, so what it costs to run the bank relative to what the bank earns is a genuine competitive variable.

Revenue Diversification

Score 50 · 14% of the moat score

A bank earning everything from net interest income is a leveraged bet on the rate cycle.

Risk Management

Score 42 · 10% of the moat score

Risk management is the defense that only reveals itself late.

How each Bank Specialized defense is measured, in full →

Understanding ISTR's moat

What is Investar Holding Corporation's moat score?

Investar Holding Corporation (ISTR) scores 42 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #254 of 393 scored companies in Banks - Regional, the top 65%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 399 companies in Banks - Regional. Its strongest defense is Cost Discipline (54/100) and its weakest is Deposit Franchise (32/100).

How does Investar Holding Corporation compare with other Banks - Regional companies?

Investar Holding Corporation ranks #254 of 393 scored companies in Banks - Regional by moat score. The widest moat in Banks - Regional is 1st Source Corporation (SRCE) at 86/100. The companies ranked closest are Union Bankshares, Inc. (UNB) at 42 just above it and LendingClub Corporation (LC) at 42 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Bank Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 399 companies in Banks - Regional. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Investar Holding Corporation scored with the Bank Specialized template?

A bank does not sell a product at a margin. It funds itself, lends at a spread, and books profits that remain an estimate until the loans are actually repaid. That makes the usual margin-and-return questions misleading, so the Bank template scores what really determines a bank's durability: where its funding comes from, what it lends against, how much capital stands behind it, and whether it has been pricing risk honestly.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Investar Holding Corporation?

The Bank Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and ISTR scores: Deposit Franchise (32), Lending Advantage (40), Capital Strength (40), Cost Discipline (54), Revenue Diversification (50), Risk Management (42). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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