Primis Financial
FRST on Nasdaq. Primis Financial sells banking services to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses. Market value $385m.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Some use the latest annual report instead, as marked. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
We can't read total debt from the filing, so debt is left out.
Should I look at this?
Look carefully before going further
Why it could be worth it
Read the warning sign in its own filings
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
Yearly profit per dollar of owners' money: 4 cents. Above 10 is good.
What you pay for each dollar of net assets: $0.88.
Profit per $100 you pay: $13.83.
Quality score: 35 of 100. Price score: 100 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$15.48 a share, 62% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $9.55 to $16.88.
Dividend: 2.6% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.02bn | 0.02bn | 0.02bn | 0.02bn | 0.02bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positiveDoesn't apply to banks and insurers
- Accounting checksDoesn't apply to banks and insurers
- DebtDoesn't apply to banks and insurers
- Revenue growth, five yearsUnknown
- Buying back its own sharesRoughly flat
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Profit: $9 million, up 287% on a year ago.
- About the same number of shares as a year ago.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $1m |
| December 2024 | -$23m |
| March 2025 | $23m |
| June 2025 | $2m |
| September 2025 | $7m |
| December 2025 | $30m |
| March 2026 | $7m |
| June 2026 | $9m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 16 March 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 6 November 2026
Who owns it
1 long-term investor we follow owns it, unchanged from 1 last quarter. 144 funds in all.
- First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners
- Value
- $3m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners | $3m | <0.1% |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$40mAdded
- North Reef Capital Management LP$20mAdded
- Patriot Financial Partners GP II, L.P.$20m
- Dimensional Fund Advisors LP$17mCut
- Vanguard Capital Management$16m
- Alliancebernstein L.P.$16m
- Mendon Capital Advisors$15mCut
- TWO Sigma Investments, LP$15mAdded
- Maltese Capital Management$15mCut
- Banc Funds$14m
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
3 investors own more than 5%.
- James J. LynchPassive investor5.3%Since 12 August 2025
What they said
Patriot Fund III acquired shares of the Company (the "Acquired Shares") for investment purposes. Except as otherwise described herein or in Item 6 below, no member of the Patriot Financial Group has any plans or proposals that relate to or would result in any of the transactions…
Read the filing - Patriot Financial Partners III, L.P.Passive investorat least 4.9%−0.4 pts(filed with 3 related holders)Since 23 September 2025
What they said
Patriot Fund III acquired shares of the Company (the "Acquired Shares") for investment purposes. Except as otherwise described herein or in Item 6 below, no member of the Patriot Financial Group has any plans or proposals that relate to or would result in any of the transactions…
Read the filing - Castle Creek Capital Partners VII, LPPassive investorat least 4.4%−1.0 pts(filed with 1 related holder)Since 17 April 2026
- Banc Fund X L.P.Passive investorSold down below 5%Since 31 December 2025
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
James J. Lynch Passive investor | 5.3% | 12 August 2025 | What they saidPatriot Fund III acquired shares of the Company (the "Acquired Shares") for investment purposes. Except as otherwise described herein or in Item 6 below, no member of the Patriot Financial Group has any plans or proposals that relate to or would result in any of the transactions… Read the filing |
Patriot Financial Partners III, L.P. Passive investor | at least 4.9%−0.4 pts (filed with 3 related holders) | 23 September 2025 | What they saidPatriot Fund III acquired shares of the Company (the "Acquired Shares") for investment purposes. Except as otherwise described herein or in Item 6 below, no member of the Patriot Financial Group has any plans or proposals that relate to or would result in any of the transactions… Read the filing |
Castle Creek Capital Partners VII, LP Passive investor | at least 4.4%−1.0 pts (filed with 1 related holder) | 17 April 2026 | |
Banc Fund X L.P. Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 31 December 2025 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
In the last 12 months, 11 insiders bought $426,708 of shares on the open market.
- Johnson Eric AlanDirectorBought
- Date
- 9 September 2026
- Shares
- 1,565
- Price
- $15.95
- Value
- $24,962
- Johnson Eric AlanDirectorBought
- Date
- 1 September 2026
- Shares
- 1,280
- Price
- $15.60
- Value
- $19,968
- Weichert Margaret MDirectorBought
- Date
- 1 September 2026
- Shares
- 100
- Price
- $15.75
- Value
- $1,575
- Weichert Margaret MDirectorBought
- Date
- 20 August 2026
- Shares
- 110
- Price
- $16.00
- Value
- $1,760
- Weichert Margaret MDirectorBought
- Date
- 6 August 2026
- Shares
- 200
- Price
- $16.32
- Value
- $3,264
- Saunders Jason BrockDirectorBought
- Date
- 11 June 2026
- Shares
- 500
- Price
- $15.20
- Value
- $7,600
- GARRETT F L IIIDirectorBought
- Date
- 9 June 2026
- Shares
- 155
- Price
- $15.24
- Value
- $2,362
- GARRETT F L IIIDirectorBought
- Date
- 8 June 2026
- Shares
- 250
- Price
- $15.03
- Value
- $3,758
- GARRETT F L IIIDirectorBought
- Date
- 5 June 2026
- Shares
- 125
- Price
- $15.00
- Value
- $1,875
- GARRETT F L IIIDirectorBought
- Date
- 4 June 2026
- Shares
- 125
- Price
- $14.75
- Value
- $1,844
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2026 | Johnson Eric Alan Director | Bought | 1,565 | $15.95 | $24,962 |
| 1 September 2026 | Johnson Eric Alan Director | Bought | 1,280 | $15.60 | $19,968 |
| 1 September 2026 | Weichert Margaret M Director | Bought | 100 | $15.75 | $1,575 |
| 20 August 2026 | Weichert Margaret M Director | Bought | 110 | $16.00 | $1,760 |
| 6 August 2026 | Weichert Margaret M Director | Bought | 200 | $16.32 | $3,264 |
| 11 June 2026 | Saunders Jason Brock Director | Bought | 500 | $15.20 | $7,600 |
| 9 June 2026 | GARRETT F L III Director | Bought | 155 | $15.24 | $2,362 |
| 8 June 2026 | GARRETT F L III Director | Bought | 250 | $15.03 | $3,758 |
| 5 June 2026 | GARRETT F L III Director | Bought | 125 | $15.00 | $1,875 |
| 4 June 2026 | GARRETT F L III Director | Bought | 125 | $14.75 | $1,844 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
1 serious warning sign in Primis Financial’s filings.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 16 Mar 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 7 Aug 2026 and 5 later 8-Ks.
Weak checks on its own accounts
SeriousThe company said its checks on its own accounts did not work at the end of its latest quarter. Mistakes could slip into the numbers.
“Based upon that evaluation, our CEO and CFO have concluded that these controls and procedures are not effective as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.”
Show the full paragraph
As of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report on Form 10-Q, under the supervision and with the participation of management, including our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), we have evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d -15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934). Based upon that evaluation, our CEO and CFO have concluded that these controls and procedures are not effective as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. This conclusion was reached as a result of the continued remediation of a previously identified material weakness in its internal controls over financial reporting as further described in Item 9A in the 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
From the 10-Q filed 7 August 2026, Part I, Item 4. Controls and Procedures. Read it in the filing
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
Cheap for a reason is the question the numbers cannot answer.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.