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

Primis Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FRST) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 81,000 shares, a growth of 5.2% from the October 15th total of 77,000 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 57,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 103.9% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 124,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after buying an additional 63,582 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Primis Financial in the first quarter worth about $1,768,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in Primis Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $828,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Primis Financial by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,107,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,479,000 after purchasing an additional 7,312 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 70,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 8,398 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.96% of the company’s stock.

Primis Financial Price Performance

Shares of FRST stock opened at $12.20 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $11.86 and its 200-day moving average is $11.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.00. Primis Financial has a 52 week low of $9.52 and a 52 week high of $13.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $301.58 million, a PE ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 0.75.

Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.35). Primis Financial had a return on equity of 4.63% and a net margin of 7.31%. The company had revenue of $66.40 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Primis Financial will post 0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primis Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Primis Financial from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a 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.