Corient Private Wealth LP Purchases Shares of 77,666 South Plains Financial, Inc. $SPFI

Key Points

• Institutional interest increased: Corient Private Wealth purchased 77,666 shares of South Plains Financial worth approximately $3.35 million. Hedge funds and other institutional investors collectively own 54.95% of the company.
• Analysts remain bullish: Six analysts rate SPFI a Buy and one rates it Hold, resulting in a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $49.60, above the reported $43.88 share price.
• Financial performance and shareholder returns improved: South Plains Financial beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.18 per share. However, insiders sold 260,000 shares worth approximately $11.6 million over the past three months.

Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 77,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,346,000. Corient Private Wealth LP owned about 0.41% of South Plains Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SPFI. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of South Plains Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $61,644,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $13,426,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,981,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,755,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in South Plains Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,410,000. 54.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SPFI shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of South Plains Financial from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating 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 target price on shares of South Plains Financial in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of South Plains Financial in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.60.

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

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

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $64.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 12.36% and a net margin of 20.79%. As a group, analysts predict that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, July 27th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 27th. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. South Plains Financial's payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

Insider Activity at South Plains Financial

In other news, Director James Stein sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.54, for a total value 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. The trade was a 29.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard Campbell sold 27,286 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.14, for a total value of $1,231,690.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,384,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $62,517,500.66. The trade was a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 260,000 shares of company stock worth $11,624,642. 24.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

South Plains Financial 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.

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