South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.60.

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

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ SPFI opened at $44.76 on Monday. South Plains Financial has a fifty-two week low of $35.34 and a fifty-two week high of $46.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.59. The stock has a market cap of $843.28 million, a P/E ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 0.46.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.02. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 12.36% and a net margin of 20.79%.The firm had revenue of $64.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 million. On average, analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 27th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 27th. This is an increase from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.62%.

Insider Transactions at South Plains Financial

In related news, Director James D. Stein sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 242,872 shares in the company, valued at $10,817,518.88. This represents a 29.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard D. Campbell sold 27,286 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.14, for a total value of $1,231,690.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,384,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,517,500.66. The trade was a 1.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,624,642. 24.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of South Plains Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SPFI. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in South Plains Financial by 71.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial during the third quarter valued at about $60,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

South Plains Financial Company Profile

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.