Brokerages Set South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) PT at $44.00

Shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SPFI. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler lowered South Plains Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Hovde Group upped their price target on South Plains Financial from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of South Plains Financial from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

Shares of SPFI opened at $36.91 on Tuesday. South Plains Financial has a twelve month low of $30.01 and a twelve month high of $42.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $599.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $54.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.07 million. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 20.09% and a return on equity of 13.16%. Equities analysts forecast that South Plains Financial will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other South Plains Financial news, Director Richard D. Campbell sold 15,583 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.62, for a total value of $617,398.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,529,386 shares in the company, valued at $60,594,273.32. This represents a 1.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 24.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of South Plains Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in South Plains Financial by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 3.2% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 10,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 0.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 89,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,956,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 4.4% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 10,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. 54.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About South Plains Financial

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.