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

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

A number of research firms have commented on SPFI. Hovde Group boosted their target price on South Plains Financial from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on South Plains Financial from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of 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.

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SPFI opened at $37.65 on Tuesday. 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 has a 52-week low of $30.01 and a 52-week high of $42.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.75. The company has a market capitalization of $611.81 million, a PE ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.71.

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

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard D. Campbell sold 44,417 shares of the business’s 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 $62,123,203.49. The trade was a 2.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 25.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPFI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 706,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,300,000 after purchasing an additional 7,889 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 2.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 480,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,584,000 after buying an additional 9,484 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in South Plains Financial by 9.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 380,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,725,000 after acquiring an additional 34,420 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in South Plains Financial by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 310,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,187,000 after acquiring an additional 17,434 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in South Plains Financial by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 306,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,041,000 after acquiring an additional 29,420 shares during the period. 54.95% of the stock is currently 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.