Fold (NASDAQ:FLD) versus Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) Head to Head Survey

Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) and Fold (NASDAQ:FLD) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

75.0% of Primis Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.9% of Fold shares are held by institutional investors. 11.0% of Primis Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 66.8% of Fold shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Primis Financial and Fold, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Primis Financial	0	2	1	0	2.33
Fold	1	0	2	1	2.75

Primis Financial presently has a consensus price target of $1.00, suggesting a potential downside of 92.30%. Fold has a consensus price target of $7.83, suggesting a potential upside of 480.25%. Given Fold’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Fold is more favorable than Primis Financial.

Risk & Volatility

Primis Financial has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fold has a beta of 0.23, indicating that its stock price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Primis Financial and Fold”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Primis Financial	$191.28 million	1.67	$61.44 million	$1.93	6.73
Fold	N/A	N/A	-$1.87 million	($0.75)	-1.80

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Primis Financial	18.78%	4.11%	0.40%
Fold	N/A	60.59%	26.06%

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.

About Fold

FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp. does not have significant operations. It intends to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, and similar business combination with one or more businesses or assets operating in the clean/renewable energy, water sustainability, agricultural technology, shared economy software, and mobility sectors. The company was formerly known as Emerald ESG Acquisition Corp. FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp. was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.