South Plains Financial’s (SPFI) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $48.00.

SPFI has been the subject of several other research reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded South Plains Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded South Plains Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of South Plains Financial in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on South Plains Financial from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.60.

South Plains Financial Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of SPFI stock opened at $43.84 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $839.54 million, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.46. South Plains Financial has a fifty-two week low of $35.34 and a fifty-two week high of $46.94.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $64.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.34 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 20.79%. Research analysts expect that South Plains Financial will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 27th. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 18.53%.

Insider Activity at South Plains Financial

In other news, Director James D. Stein sold 1,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $62,509.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 342,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,738,881.04. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 30,000 shares of company stock worth $1,204,340 in the last 90 days. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On South Plains Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial during the second quarter worth about $2,410,000. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS purchased a new stake in South Plains Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,659,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in South Plains Financial by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $901,000 after purchasing an additional 4,559 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in South Plains Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Amundi acquired a new position in South Plains Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $216,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

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.