Primis Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FRST) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Primis Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FRST) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 80,400 shares, a drop of 10.8% from the November 15th total of 90,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 65,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director F L. Garrett III bought 3,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.32 per share, for a total transaction of $45,091.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $507,202.08. This represents a 9.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primis Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRST. Princeton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Primis Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $105,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in Primis Financial during the second quarter worth about $106,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Primis Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $144,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Primis Financial by 55.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 6,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Primis Financial by 109.5% during the 3rd quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 21,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 10,986 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Primis Financial Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Primis Financial stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $12.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 61,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 65,937. The company has a market capitalization of $302.57 million, a PE ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $12.11 and a 200 day moving average of $11.64. Primis Financial has a 12 month low of $9.52 and a 12 month high of $13.69.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.35). Primis Financial had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 3.28%. The company had revenue of $66.40 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Analysts predict that Primis Financial will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Primis Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%.

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.