South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Short Interest Update

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 137,671 shares, a growth of 67.0% from the February 26th total of 82,457 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 88,726 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of South Plains Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SPFI. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in South Plains Financial by 11.0% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in South Plains Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 10,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

South Plains Financial Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:SPFI opened at $41.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.71. South Plains Financial has a fifty-two week low of $30.01 and a fifty-two week high of $44.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $683.78 million, a PE ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 0.60.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.90 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 the consensus estimate of $54.11 million. Sell-side analysts expect that South Plains Financial will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

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

South Plains Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, February 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPFI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Hovde Group boosted their target price on South Plains Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Piper Sandler raised shares of South Plains Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of South Plains Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $46.75.

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.