South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Upgraded at Benchmark

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) was upgraded by research analysts at Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of South Plains Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of South Plains Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on South Plains Financial from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $47.60.

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ SPFI opened at $42.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $820.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.47. South Plains Financial has a 1 year low of $35.20 and a 1 year high of $45.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.26.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James D. Stein sold 1,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $62,509.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 342,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,738,881.04. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,204,340 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On South Plains Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in South Plains Financial by 1.1% during the third 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in South Plains Financial by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 480,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,584,000 after purchasing an additional 9,484 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 437,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,994,000 after purchasing an additional 57,008 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 293,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 181,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,041,000 after purchasing an additional 8,749 shares during the period. 54.95% of the stock is currently owned by 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.