James Stein Sells 1,560 Shares of South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Stock

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Director James Stein sold 1,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $62,509.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 342,872 shares in the company, valued at $13,738,881.04. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

SPFI stock opened at $40.13 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.64. 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 capitalization of $768.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

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

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 27th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 payout ratio is presently 19.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On South Plains Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 706,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,300,000 after purchasing an additional 7,889 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in South Plains Financial by 2.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 480,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,584,000 after acquiring an additional 9,484 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in South Plains Financial by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 437,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,994,000 after acquiring an additional 57,008 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in South Plains Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 293,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in South Plains Financial by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 181,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,041,000 after acquiring an additional 8,749 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.