Head-To-Head Survey: Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) vs. Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB)

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) and Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Metropolitan Bank has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Primis Financial has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Metropolitan Bank and Primis Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Metropolitan Bank	$276.91 million	2.41	$66.69 million	$5.92	10.07
Primis Financial	$147.43 million	1.70	-$7.54 million	($0.30)	-33.73

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

Profitability

This table compares Metropolitan Bank and Primis Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Metropolitan Bank	13.55%	10.89%	1.02%
Primis Financial	-2.97%	-2.05%	-0.20%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Metropolitan Bank and Primis Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Metropolitan Bank	0	0	4	0	3.00
Primis Financial	0	0	1	0	3.00

Metropolitan Bank presently has a consensus target price of $78.13, indicating a potential upside of 30.99%. Primis Financial has a consensus target price of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.34%. Given Primis Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Primis Financial is more favorable than Metropolitan Bank.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

79.8% of Metropolitan Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.0% of Primis Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Metropolitan Bank shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.9% of Primis Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Metropolitan Bank beats Primis Financial on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Metropolitan Bank

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank that provides a range of business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, public entities, and individuals in the New York metropolitan area. The company offers checking, savings, term deposit, money market, demand deposit, and other interest-bearing transaction accounts. It also provides lending products, including commercial real estate, multi-family, construction, and one-to four-family real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans; consumer loans; acquisition and renovation loans; loans to refinance or return borrower equity; loans on owner-occupied properties; working capital lines of credit; trade finance and letters of credit; and term loans. In addition, the company offers cash management services, as well as online and mobile banking, ACH, remote deposit capture, and debit cards. The company was formerly known as Metbank Holding Corp. and changed its name to Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. in January 2007. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Primis Financial

Primis Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Primis Bank that provides a range of financial services to individuals and small and medium sized businesses in the United States. Its deposit products include checking, NOW, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposits. The company also provides commercial business and real estate, construction, secured asset based, small business administration, mortgage warehouse lending products, as well as financing for medical, dental, and veterinary businesses; residential mortgage, trust mortgage, home equity lines of credit, secured and unsecured personal, and consumer loans, as well as life insurance premium financing and demand loans. It also offers cash management services comprising investment/sweep, zero balance, and controlled disbursement accounts; and wire transfer, employer/payroll processing, night depository, depository transfer, merchant, ACH origination, and remote deposit capture services. In addition, the company provides debit cards, ATM services, notary services, and mobile and online banking. It operates full-service branches in Virginia and Maryland. The company was formerly known as Southern National Bancorp of Virginia, Inc. and changed its name to Primis Financial Corp. Primis Financial Corp. was founded in 2004 and is based in McLean, Virginia.