Analysts Set South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Target Price at $44.25

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.75.

Several brokerages have commented on SPFI. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Piper Sandler lowered South Plains Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on South Plains Financial from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on South Plains Financial from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On South Plains Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 4.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in South Plains Financial by 0.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 89,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,956,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in South Plains Financial in the first quarter valued at $315,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in South Plains Financial by 1.9% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 293,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in South Plains Financial during the first quarter worth about $520,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

South Plains Financial Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of SPFI opened at $39.24 on Wednesday. South Plains Financial has a twelve month low of $30.01 and a twelve month high of $42.38. The stock has a market cap of $637.65 million, a PE ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.59.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $54.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.07 million. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 20.09% and a return on equity of 13.16%. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, October 27th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 27th. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 18.29%.

About South Plains Financial

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.