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

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

Primis Financial Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Primis Financial stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $12.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 48,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 66,456. The company has a market capitalization of $306.03 million, a PE ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $11.99 and a 200 day moving average of $11.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Primis Financial has a 1-year low of $9.52 and a 1-year high of $13.69.

Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $66.40 million during the quarter. Primis Financial had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 4.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Primis Financial will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.

Primis Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens dropped 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRST. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 14.5% in the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 393,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,794,000 after buying an additional 49,735 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in Primis Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $828,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Primis Financial by 91.5% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 125,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 59,746 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Primis Financial by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,107,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,479,000 after purchasing an additional 7,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 8,398 shares during the last quarter. 74.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.