Primis Financial (FRST) Competitors

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) and Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, community ranking, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Is CNOB or FRST a better dividend stock?

ConnectOne Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Primis Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. ConnectOne Bancorp pays out 38.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Primis Financial pays out -137.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. ConnectOne Bancorp has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Primis Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor CNOB or FRST?

In the previous week, ConnectOne Bancorp had 3 more articles in the media than Primis Financial. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for ConnectOne Bancorp and 2 mentions for Primis Financial. ConnectOne Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.02 beat Primis Financial's score of 0.68 indicating that ConnectOne Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
ConnectOne Bancorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Primis Financial	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CNOB or FRST?

ConnectOne Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Primis Financial. Primis Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ConnectOne Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ConnectOne Bancorp	$270.12M	3.22	$73.79M	$1.85	12.24
Primis Financial	$170.49M	1.35	-$7.54M	-$0.29	-32.07

Is CNOB or FRST more profitable?

ConnectOne Bancorp has a net margin of 13.80% compared to Primis Financial's net margin of -2.97%. ConnectOne Bancorp's return on equity of 6.77% beat Primis Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ConnectOne Bancorp	13.80%	6.77%	0.78%
Primis Financial	-2.97%	-2.05%	-0.20%

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of CNOB or FRST?

67.7% of ConnectOne Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.0% of Primis Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.2% of ConnectOne Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.9% of Primis Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, CNOB or FRST?

ConnectOne Bancorp has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Primis Financial has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate CNOB or FRST?

ConnectOne Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $28.50, suggesting a potential upside of 25.88%. Primis Financial has a consensus price target of $7.50, suggesting a potential downside of 19.35%. Given ConnectOne Bancorp's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe ConnectOne Bancorp is more favorable than Primis Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ConnectOne Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Primis Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CNOB or FRST?

ConnectOne Bancorp received 256 more outperform votes than Primis Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.28% of users gave ConnectOne Bancorp an outperform vote while only 42.11% of users gave Primis Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
ConnectOne Bancorp	Outperform Votes 264 58.28%	Underperform Votes 189 41.72%
Primis Financial	Outperform Votes 8 42.11%	Underperform Votes 11 57.89%

Summary

ConnectOne Bancorp beats Primis Financial on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.