Brokerages Set South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Price Target at $49.60

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.60.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SPFI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target (up from $48.00) on shares of South Plains Financial in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of South Plains Financial in a report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings raised South Plains Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a research report on Monday, July 20th.

Insider Transactions at South Plains Financial

In other news, Director Richard D. Campbell sold 132,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total transaction of $5,938,951.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,412,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,198,411.25. The trade was a 8.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James D. Stein sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.54, for a total transaction of $4,454,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 242,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,817,518.88. This trade represents a 29.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 260,000 shares of company stock worth $11,624,642. Company insiders own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 71.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 642 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $103,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $173,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in South Plains Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $204,000. 54.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

SPFI opened at $43.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $826.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.67. South Plains Financial has a 12 month low of $35.34 and a 12 month high of $46.94.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share 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 12.36%. The business had revenue of $64.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 million. On average, research analysts expect that South Plains Financial will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 27th were 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 was 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 19.62%.

About South Plains Financial

South Plains Financial, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Lubbock, Texas. Through its subsidiary, City Bank, the company provides banking services to businesses, agricultural customers, professionals and individual consumers.

City Bank offers commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgage loans, business and personal deposit accounts, treasury management and other financial services. Its lending activities include real estate, commercial, agricultural and consumer loans, while its deposit products include checking, savings and time-deposit accounts.

The company primarily serves communities in West Texas and parts of New Mexico through a network of banking locations and digital banking services.