Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) Shares Cross Below 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Primis Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FRST) crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $14.78 and traded as low as $14.66. Primis Financial shares last traded at $14.73, with a volume of 336,478 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Primis Financial from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Primis Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $17.50.

Primis Financial Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $367.52 million, a PE ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.80.

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

Primis Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. Primis Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.94%.

Institutional Trading of Primis Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its position in Primis Financial by 55.4% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 17,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 6,350 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Primis Financial in the second quarter worth $824,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Primis Financial in the second quarter worth $179,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Primis Financial during the second quarter worth $441,000. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Primis Financial during the second quarter worth $852,000. 74.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Primis Financial

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.