South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• South Plains Financial now has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with five buy ratings and one hold rating. The average 12-month price target is $46.25.
• The company reported Q1 earnings of $0.85 per share, slightly below estimates, while revenue of $54.15 million was roughly in line with expectations. Analysts currently expect full-year EPS of 3.79.
• South Plains Financial recently approved a $10 million share buyback and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 1.7%.

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.25.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SPFI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded South Plains Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded South Plains Financial from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research cut South Plains Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on South Plains Financial from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th.

Insider Transactions at South Plains Financial

In related news, Director James D. Stein sold 13,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total transaction of $540,295.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 344,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,780,724.32. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,000 shares of company stock worth $1,204,340. Corporate insiders own 24.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in South Plains Financial by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $901,000 after buying an additional 4,559 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in South Plains Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $201,000. Amundi acquired a new position in South Plains Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $216,000. 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. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in South Plains Financial by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 40,403 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,693,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. 54.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

South Plains Financial Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ SPFI opened at $41.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $787.64 million, a P/E ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.47. South Plains Financial has a 1-year low of $33.66 and a 1-year high of $45.09. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.88.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $54.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $54.08 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 20.22%. Equities research analysts expect that South Plains Financial will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 23rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, April 27th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. South Plains Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.05%.

South Plains Financial Company Profile

South Plains Financial, Inc is the bank holding company for South Plains Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Lubbock, Texas. The company operates as a full-service commercial bank, providing a broad spectrum of banking solutions to individuals, small businesses and agricultural clients. Its principal subsidiary, South Plains Bank, holds state and national banking charters and is subject to regulatory oversight by the Federal Reserve and various state banking authorities.

The company’s product offerings include traditional deposit accounts such as checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as time deposits.

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