South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Director James Stein Sells 13,504 Shares

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Director James Stein sold 13,504 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total transaction of $540,295.04. Following the sale, the director owned 344,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,780,724.32. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

South Plains Financial Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of South Plains Financial stock opened at $40.09 on Thursday. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.66 and a 1 year high of $45.09. The firm has a market cap of $767.72 million, a PE ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.62.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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. Analysts expect that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 27th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 27th. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio is presently 19.05%.

South Plains Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, February 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 71.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 642 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the third quarter worth $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the second quarter worth $32,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the third quarter worth $57,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the third quarter worth $60,000. 54.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of South Plains Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of South Plains Financial from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of South Plains Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of South Plains Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, South Plains Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.25.

South Plains Financial Company Profile

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.