South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 52,100 shares, a drop of 21.8% from the March 15th total of 66,600 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 26,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

South Plains Financial Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of South Plains Financial stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.66. The stock had a trading volume of 17,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,804. South Plains Financial has a 12 month low of $18.75 and a 12 month high of $30.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $25.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.89. The stock has a market cap of $405.16 million, a PE ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 0.56.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $66.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.25 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 21.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that South Plains Financial will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, January 29th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 26th. South Plains Financial's payout ratio is currently 14.33%.

Insider Activity

In other South Plains Financial news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,253,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,344,925. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other South Plains Financial news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,253,797 shares in the company, valued at $31,344,925. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 100,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $2,475,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,103,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,318,975.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 25.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of South Plains Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 193.5% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,259 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in South Plains Financial by 60.7% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in South Plains Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 676.4% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,702 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 2,354 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG bought a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Raymond James lifted their target price on South Plains Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th.

About South Plains Financial

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.