South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Upgraded to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Sunday.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Hovde Group upped their price objective on South Plains Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research downgraded South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on South Plains Financial from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued 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 $46.25.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

SPFI opened at $40.63 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $778.06 million, a PE ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.48. South Plains Financial has a 52 week low of $33.66 and a 52 week high of $45.09.

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

South Plains Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On South Plains Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 380,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,725,000 after buying an additional 34,420 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 106,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,143,000 after acquiring an additional 26,767 shares during the period. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,624,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $875,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. 54.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.