Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) Stock Rating Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on FRST. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Primis Financial in a research note 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 report on Tuesday, October 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.50.

Primis Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Primis Financial stock opened at $14.82 on Tuesday. Primis Financial has a fifty-two week low of $10.35 and a fifty-two week high of $16.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $367.52 million, a P/E ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $15.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.80.

Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $49.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.89 million. Primis Financial had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 19.27%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Primis Financial will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primis Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRST. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in Primis Financial by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 44,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $584,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Primis Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Primis Financial by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 4,139 shares during the period. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Primis Financial during the third quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Primis Financial during the second quarter valued at $90,000. 74.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.