Baton Rouge publicly traded bank stocks slip amid larger market fears

Stocks of Baton Rouge-based banks tumbled Wednesday morning as the spotlight intensified on the banking industry amid new fears after shares of Swiss bank Credit Suisse crashed more than 20%. That news follows the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history last week.  

However, while the banks’ collapse underscored growing concerns that the Fed’s attempts to get inflation under control, Baton Rouge banking experts don’t believe the region’s banks are at risk of something similar because of how different the economies are, as reported by Daily Report earlier this week. 

Investar Bank, with headquarters on Coursey Boulevard, has seen its stock price fall some 16.3% over the past five days. The company’s share price dropped to $15.70 shortly before 11 a.m. this morning—its lowest level since 2020, when the onset of the pandemic sent stocks tumbling. As of this afternoon, Investar’s shares were trading at $15.75. 

After rising to $18.28 on Tuesday, Business First Bancshares, the holding company for b1Bank, saw its share price drop 2.5% this morning. The organization’s share prices have dropped more than 12% over the past five days and roughly 24% over the past six months. As of this afternoon, Business First shares were trading at $17.60. 

The price for shares of Alexandria-based Red River Bancshares, with six local branches, has not been updated today, according to Nasdaq and GoogleFinance, but the price has dropped more than 3% over the past five days. As of closing Tuesday, Red River shares were trading at $49.33. 

Hammond-based First Guaranty Bancshares has seen its share price fall nearly 18% over the past five days. As of this afternoon’s deadline, with shares at $15.50, First Guaranty was the only Louisiana-based institution whose shares were trading higher than on Tuesday.

Larger banking institutions with significant stakes in the Capital Region also took a hit Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase Bank, with 21 local branches, saw its shares trading for $128.26 this afternoon, down nearly more than 6% from Tuesday and 5.4% over the past five days. 

Capital One Bank, with the second-largest presence in Baton Rouge, saw its share price fall 3.2% since opening this morning. As of this afternoon, Capital One shares were trading at $92.99, down nearly 12% from last week.