Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Initiates Coverage on Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST)

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage with an “outperform” rating and a $17 price target, implying roughly a 21% upside from the prior close.
• Other analysts are more muted — three Buy and one Hold produce a MarketBeat consensus of “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $9, while the stock trades near $14 with a 52‑week range of $7.59–$14.55 and a P/E of 7.27.
• Insiders have recently bought shares (EVP purchased 2,500 at $14.06) and institutional ownership is high at about 74.96%, with several funds increasing their stakes.

Investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Monday. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price target would suggest a potential upside of 21.08% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $9.00.

Primis Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRST opened at $14.04 on Monday. Primis Financial has a 52 week low of $7.59 and a 52 week high of $14.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $347.77 million, a P/E ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 0.72. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $13.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.52.

Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $80.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.01 million. Primis Financial had a return on equity of 3.99% and a net margin of 18.78%. Equities research analysts predict that Primis Financial will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Primis Financial news, EVP Matthew Alan Switzer acquired 2,500 shares of Primis Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.06 per share, for a total transaction of $35,150.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,352,937.56. This trade represents a 2.67% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 7,025 shares of company stock valued at $92,961. 10.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp grew its holdings in shares of Primis Financial by 16.6% during the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 1,301,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,126,000 after buying an additional 185,083 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. purchased a new position in Primis Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $12,796,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Primis Financial by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,210,031 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,717,000 after acquiring an additional 17,712 shares in the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Primis Financial by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 1,203,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 228,734 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Primis Financial by 44.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,091,037 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,467,000 after purchasing an additional 336,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.96% of the company's stock.

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.

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