Primis Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FRST) Short Interest Up 5.2% in October

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fourthstone LLC boosted its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 271.5% during the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 247,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 180,655 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Primis Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,768,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in Primis Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $828,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 63,582 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 91.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 59,746 shares during the last quarter. 74.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Primis Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRST traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $12.20. The stock had a trading volume of 42,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 65,753. 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 company has a market capitalization of $301.58 million, a P/E ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 0.75. The company's 50-day moving average price is $11.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.36. Primis Financial has a fifty-two week low of $9.52 and a fifty-two week high of $13.69.

Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 7.31% and a return on equity of 4.63%. The business had revenue of $66.40 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Primis Financial will post 0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primis Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens cut their target price 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.

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.