Primis Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FRST) Short Interest Update

Primis Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FRST) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 90,100 shares, an increase of 11.2% from the October 31st total of 81,000 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 62,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Primis Financial Stock Performance

Primis Financial stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $12.51. 84,391 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 66,420. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Primis Financial has a fifty-two week low of $9.52 and a fifty-two week high of $13.69. The company has a market capitalization of $309.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $11.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.49.

Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $66.40 million during the quarter. Primis Financial had a return on equity of 4.65% and a net margin of 7.31%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Primis Financial will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primis Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Primis Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRST. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 4.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 33,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 1,348 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 1.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 130,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,363,000 after buying an additional 1,410 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 4.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 2,708 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 1.9% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 182,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,224,000 after buying an additional 3,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 5.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 78,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. 74.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Primis Financial from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

About Primis Financial

Primis Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Primis Bank that provides a range of financial services to individuals and small and medium sized businesses in the United States. Its deposit products include checking, NOW, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposits.