JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Stock Holdings in South Plains Financial, Inc. $SPFI

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 380,987 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,420 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in South Plains Financial were worth $14,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 worth $234,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in South Plains Financial by 0.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 89,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,956,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its position in South Plains Financial by 4.4% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 10,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake 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 worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. 54.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of South Plains Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Hovde Group lifted 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 boosted their price target on shares of South Plains Financial from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised South Plains Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.75.

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SPFI stock opened at $41.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $683.78 million, a P/E ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 0.60. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.01 and a fifty-two week high of $44.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.71.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $54.11 million. Analysts expect that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This is an increase from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.77%.

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

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.