Bailard Inc. Buys Shares of 18,600 South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI)

Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 18,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $616,000. Bailard Inc. owned about 0.11% of South Plains Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $101,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in South Plains Financial by 8,686.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,326 shares of the company's stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 6,254 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in South Plains Financial by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,754 shares of the company's stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in South Plains Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $249,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in South Plains Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $274,000. 54.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of South Plains Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 17th.

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SPFI traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.24. 68,919 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,156. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.36 and a 52 week high of $42.38. The company has a market cap of $669.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $54.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.24 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 12.36% and a net margin of 18.59%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 28th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This is an increase from South Plains Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 28th. South Plains Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.75%.

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.