South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Director Sells $197,736.16 in Stock

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Director James Stein sold 4,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.06, for a total value of $197,736.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 357,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,338,916.16. This represents a 1.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

South Plains Financial Trading Down 0.5%

South Plains Financial stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 64,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 94,613. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.66 and a 12 month high of $45.09. The stock has a market cap of $754.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.48.

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

South Plains Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, April 27th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio is presently 19.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SPFI shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings raised South Plains Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Hovde Group boosted their price target on South Plains Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of South Plains Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, South Plains Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On South Plains Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SPFI. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in South Plains Financial in the second quarter worth $32,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial in the third quarter worth $57,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial in the third quarter worth $60,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 26.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. 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.