South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 203,674 shares, a growth of 47.9% from the March 15th total of 137,671 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 121,795 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:SPFI traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.30. 81,377 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 88,561. South Plains Financial has a 12 month low of $31.11 and a 12 month high of $44.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.04 and a 200 day moving average of $39.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $723.95 million, a PE ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.54.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 19.69% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $54.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.11 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that South Plains Financial will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a $0.17 dividend. This is a boost from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio is 19.77%.

South Plains Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SPFI shares. Zacks Research cut shares of South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of South Plains Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.75.

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.