South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Short Interest Update

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) was the target of a large 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. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 35,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other South Plains Financial news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 865,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,009,894.50. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 25.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On South Plains Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in South Plains Financial by 39.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 20.9% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 4,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 84,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 1,891 shares during the period. 54.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SPFI traded down $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 26,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,749. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $573.98 million, a P/E ratio of 13.63 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $37.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.42. South Plains Financial has a fifty-two week low of $24.05 and a fifty-two week high of $40.90.

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

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. This is an increase from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio 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.