Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in South Plains Financial, Inc. $SPFI

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,507 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,228 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in South Plains Financial were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SPFI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in South Plains Financial by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 678,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,475,000 after acquiring an additional 15,942 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in South Plains Financial by 352.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 92,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 72,269 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,809,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 83,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,755,000 after purchasing an additional 5,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 276,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,172,000 after purchasing an additional 28,467 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard D. Campbell sold 44,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $1,786,007.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,544,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,123,203.49. This represents a 2.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 25.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on SPFI shares. Piper Sandler lowered shares of South Plains Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on South Plains Financial from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Hovde Group upped their price target on South Plains Financial from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, South Plains Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

South Plains Financial Stock Down 2.2%

SPFI opened at $36.97 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $600.76 million, a PE ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 0.71. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.01 and a twelve month high of $42.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.09. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 20.09%.The company had revenue of $54.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.07 million. Sell-side analysts expect that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, October 27th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 27th. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio is presently 18.29%.

South Plains Financial 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.