South Plains Financial’s (SPFI) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated their outperform rating on shares of South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $45.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $46.00.

Separately, Hovde Group raised their price objective on South Plains Financial from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday.

South Plains Financial Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:SPFI opened at $36.16 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.63. South Plains Financial has a one year low of $24.05 and a one year high of $40.90. The firm has a market cap of $592.66 million, a P/E ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.29. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.39%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that South Plains Financial will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio is currently 23.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.50, for a total transaction of $1,675,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 865,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,009,894.50. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 25.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of South Plains Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in South Plains Financial by 200.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 175,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,962,000 after buying an additional 117,207 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial in the third quarter worth $2,882,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 9.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 364,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,837,000 after purchasing an additional 30,665 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in South Plains Financial by 77.2% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 47,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 20,756 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new stake in South Plains Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $504,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

South Plains Financial Company Profile

South Plains Financial, Inc operates as a bank holding company for City Bank that provides commercial and consumer financial services to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It offers deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, interest-bearing products, savings accounts, and certificate of deposits.