South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• South Plains Financial has a consensus analyst rating of "Buy" from seven covering analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $47.60.
• The company’s latest quarterly results were slightly mixed: EPS of $0.85 missed estimates by $0.03, while revenue of $54.15 million came in roughly in line with expectations.
• South Plains Financial also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 1.6%.

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Buy" by the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.60.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on South Plains Financial from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings raised South Plains Financial from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Monday. Benchmark assumed coverage on South Plains Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $53.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised South Plains Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded South Plains Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other South Plains Financial news, Director James D. Stein sold 13,504 shares of South Plains Financial 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 approximately $13,780,724.32. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,000 shares of company stock worth $1,204,340. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,066 shares of the company's stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 89,245 shares of the company's stock worth $2,956,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $315,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,622 shares of the company's stock worth $743,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $106,000. 54.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

South Plains Financial Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of SPFI stock opened at $43.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $824.98 million, a P/E ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.47. South Plains Financial has a twelve month low of $35.34 and a twelve month high of $45.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $41.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.35.

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 firm had revenue of $54.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.08 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 20.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that South Plains Financial will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 27th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. South Plains Financial's payout ratio is presently 19.05%.

About South Plains Financial

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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