South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.60.

Several research firms have weighed in on SPFI. Wall Street Zen raised South Plains Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded South Plains Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on South Plains Financial from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of South Plains Financial in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a research note on Monday, July 20th.

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

SPFI stock opened at $44.63 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.95 and its 200-day moving average is $41.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $854.66 million, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.46. South Plains Financial has a twelve month low of $35.34 and a twelve month high of $46.94.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.02. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 20.79%.The business had revenue of $64.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 million. Equities research analysts forecast that South Plains Financial will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 27th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 27th. This is a boost from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio is currently 18.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other South Plains Financial news, Director James D. Stein sold 1,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $62,509.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 342,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,738,881.04. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,204,340 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of South Plains Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in South Plains Financial by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 706,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,300,000 after buying an additional 7,889 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in South Plains Financial by 2.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 480,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,584,000 after acquiring an additional 9,484 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in South Plains Financial by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 437,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,994,000 after acquiring an additional 57,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in South Plains Financial by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 293,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,029 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 181,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,041,000 after acquiring an additional 8,749 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

About South Plains Financial

South Plains Financial, Inc is the bank holding company for South Plains Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Lubbock, Texas. The company operates as a full-service commercial bank, providing a broad spectrum of banking solutions to individuals, small businesses and agricultural clients. Its principal subsidiary, South Plains Bank, holds state and national banking charters and is subject to regulatory oversight by the Federal Reserve and various state banking authorities.

The company’s product offerings include traditional deposit accounts such as checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as time deposits.