Insider Selling: South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Director Sells 1,560 Shares of Stock

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Director James Stein sold 1,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $62,509.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 342,872 shares in the company, valued at $13,738,881.04. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

South Plains Financial Stock Up 0.0%

SPFI stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.09. 77,133 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 94,348. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.66 and a 12 month high of $45.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.59. The company has a market capitalization of $767.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.03). South Plains Financial had a net margin of 20.22% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $54.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.08 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

South Plains Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, April 27th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On South Plains Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SPFI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 437,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,994,000 after purchasing an additional 57,008 shares during the period. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial during the third quarter worth about $1,624,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 349.0% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 46,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 36,147 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial during the first quarter worth about $1,451,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 63.3% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 76,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 29,767 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPFI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Hovde Group raised their price objective on South Plains Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. 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 report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised South Plains Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Zacks Research downgraded South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised South Plains Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.25.

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.