Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) Upgraded at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) to a moderate buy rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Primis Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Primis Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.00.

Primis Financial Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Primis Financial stock opened at $14.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Primis Financial has a twelve month low of $7.59 and a twelve month high of $14.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $346.78 million, a PE ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $13.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.57.

Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $80.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.01 million. Primis Financial had a net margin of 18.78% and a return on equity of 3.99%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Primis Financial will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primis Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Primis Financial’s payout ratio is 20.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Matthew Alan Switzer purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.06 per share, with a total value of $35,150.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 96,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,352,937.56. This represents a 2.67% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 7,025 shares of company stock valued at $92,961. Insiders own 10.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRST. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Primis Financial by 12.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 24,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Primis Financial by 25.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 23,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 4,864 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Primis Financial by 170.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 248,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,429,000 after purchasing an additional 156,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Primis Financial by 65.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares during the last quarter. 74.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Primis Financial

Primis Financial Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Waycross, Georgia, operating through its wholly owned subsidiary, Primis Bank. The company offers a full suite of commercial and retail banking services tailored to meet the needs of individuals, small businesses, and agricultural clients across its service area. Primis Bank focuses on building relationships within the communities it serves, positioning itself as a local financial partner for deposit-taking, lending, and treasury management solutions.

Primis Bank maintains a network of branch offices throughout southeastern Georgia, serving a combination of rural and suburban markets.