Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) Share Price Crosses Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average Following Analyst Downgrade

Primis Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FRST)’s share price passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on the stock from $18.00 to $17.00. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $14.83 and traded as low as $14.79. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Primis Financial shares last traded at $14.82, with a volume of 124,122 shares.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Primis Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on Primis Financial from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Primis Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.50.

Institutional Trading of Primis Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Primis Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,260,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Primis Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,268,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Primis Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,288,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Primis Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,114,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Primis Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,303,000. 74.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Primis Financial Trading Down 1.2%

The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.59 and a 200 day moving average of $14.83. The company has a market cap of $367.54 million, a P/E ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.74.

Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.07). Primis Financial had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The firm had revenue of $49.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.89 million. On average, analysts predict that Primis Financial Corp. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primis Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. Primis Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.94%.

Primis Financial Company Profile

Primis Financial Corp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia. Its principal subsidiary, Primis Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Primis Bank offers deposit products, residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer lending, business loans, treasury and cash-management services, mortgage banking and online and mobile banking. The bank also provides services designed to support small and middle-market businesses, including commercial lending and payment solutions.

The institution was formerly known as Sonabank and adopted the Primis name as part of a broader rebranding in 2020.