Short Interest in Primis Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FRST) Grows By 11.2%

Primis Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FRST) was the target of 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 62,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Primis Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRST traded down $0.08 on Tuesday, reaching $12.38. 48,367 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 66,456. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.50. The firm has a market cap of $306.03 million, a PE ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 0.78. Primis Financial has a 12 month low of $9.52 and a 12 month high of $13.69.

Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $66.40 million for 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 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Primis Financial will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Primis Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primis Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fourthstone LLC lifted its stake in Primis Financial by 271.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 247,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,011,000 after buying an additional 180,655 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Primis Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $828,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Primis Financial by 91.5% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 125,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 59,746 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in Primis Financial by 14.5% in the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 393,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,794,000 after purchasing an additional 49,735 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Primis Financial by 22.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 178,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,867,000 after purchasing an additional 32,896 shares during the period. 74.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stephens reduced their price objective on 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.