South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 51,900 shares, a growth of 25.4% from the November 30th total of 41,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 35,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group increased their target price on South Plains Financial from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Activity at South Plains Financial

In other South Plains Financial news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.50, for a total value of $1,675,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 865,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,009,894.50. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 25.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of South Plains Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in South Plains Financial by 200.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 175,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,962,000 after acquiring an additional 117,207 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial in the third quarter worth $2,882,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in South Plains Financial by 9.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 364,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,837,000 after buying an additional 30,665 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in South Plains Financial by 14.3% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 239,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,451,000 after buying an additional 29,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in South Plains Financial by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 175,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,725,000 after acquiring an additional 22,695 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

South Plains Financial Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of SPFI stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $35.08. The company had a trading volume of 12,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,637. The company has a market cap of $574.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. South Plains Financial has a 12 month low of $24.05 and a 12 month high of $40.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.49.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $72.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.90 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that South Plains Financial will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.35%.

South Plains Financial Company Profile

South Plains Financial, Inc operates as a bank holding company for City Bank that provides commercial and consumer financial services to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It offers deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, interest-bearing products, savings accounts, and certificate of deposits.