South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Given Outperform Rating at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated their outperform rating on shares of South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $50.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $48.00.

SPFI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of South Plains Financial from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of South Plains Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Zacks Research lowered South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of South Plains Financial in a report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, South Plains Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.60.

South Plains Financial Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of SPFI opened at $44.23 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $847.00 million, a P/E ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 0.46. 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 has a 1 year low of $35.34 and a 1 year high of $46.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.63.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.02. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 20.79% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The firm had revenue of $64.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.34 million. On average, equities analysts expect that South Plains Financial will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 27th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 27th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at South Plains Financial

In other news, Director James D. Stein sold 13,504 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director owned 344,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,780,724.32. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,000 shares of company stock worth $1,204,340. Insiders own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 89,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,956,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $315,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in South Plains Financial by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in South Plains Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $106,000. 54.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.