Primis Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FRST) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Primis Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FRST) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 96,900 shares, a growth of 20.5% from the November 30th total of 80,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 69,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Primis Financial

In other news, Director F L. Garrett III bought 3,660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.32 per share, for a total transaction of $45,091.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 41,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $507,202.08. This represents a 9.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 10.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Primis Financial by 120.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 71,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 38,792 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Primis Financial by 243.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 19,460 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 466,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,679,000 after acquiring an additional 10,656 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 423,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,157,000 after acquiring an additional 10,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourthstone LLC grew its holdings in shares of Primis Financial by 271.5% during the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 247,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 180,655 shares during the last quarter. 74.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Primis Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FRST traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.66. 66,030 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 67,571. Primis Financial has a one year low of $9.52 and a one year high of $13.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $288.27 million, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.78.

Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Primis Financial had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 3.28%. The business had revenue of $66.40 million during the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Primis Financial will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primis Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Primis Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 37.04%.

Primis Financial Company Profile

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.