South Plains Financial, Inc. $SPFI Shares Sold by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its stake in South Plains Financial by 31.7%, owning 35,534 shares valued at approximately $1,177,000 as of the latest quarter.
• Raymond James Financial raised its price objective on South Plains Financial from $38.00 to $42.00, while the stock has a consensus price target of $44.67 among analysts.
• South Plains Financial recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.16, reflecting a yield of 1.6% and a dividend payout ratio of 20%.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI - Free Report) by 31.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,534 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,523 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.22% of South Plains Financial worth $1,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SPFI. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 8,686.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,326 shares of the company's stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 6,254 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,754 shares of the company's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $616,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 19,976 shares of the company's stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 121.2% during the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 22,053 shares of the company's stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 12,085 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.95% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard D. Campbell sold 15,583 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.62, for a total value of $617,398.46. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,529,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,594,273.32. The trade was a 1.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 24.58% of the company's stock.

South Plains Financial Stock Down 2.0%

SPFI stock traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.53. 15,356 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,832. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.94. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.01 and a 1-year high of $42.38. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $39.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.96. The company has a market cap of $641.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35 and a beta of 0.72.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.09. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The company had revenue of $54.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $52.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 28th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 28th. This is an increase from South Plains Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. South Plains Financial's dividend payout ratio is 20.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of South Plains Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $44.67.

South Plains Financial 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.