Insider Selling: South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Director Sells 13,504 Shares of Stock

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Director James Stein sold 13,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total transaction of $540,295.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 344,432 shares in the company, valued at $13,780,724.32. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SPFI traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.09. 80,232 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 94,348. The firm has a market cap of $767.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.48. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.66 and a twelve month high of $45.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.85 EPS 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 analyst estimates 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, analysts anticipate that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Dividend Announcement

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

South Plains Financial announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On South Plains Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in South Plains Financial during the 1st quarter worth $201,000. Amundi acquired a new stake in South Plains Financial during the 1st quarter worth $216,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in South Plains Financial by 71.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 642 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in South Plains Financial by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 40,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SPFI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target 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. Zacks Research lowered shares of South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of South Plains Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of South Plains Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of South Plains Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.25.

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.