South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.25.

SPFI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of South Plains Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research lowered shares of South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of South Plains Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On South Plains Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SPFI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 437,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,994,000 after buying an additional 57,008 shares during the period. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,624,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 349.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 46,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 36,147 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $1,451,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 63.3% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 76,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 29,767 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

South Plains Financial Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ SPFI opened at $39.58 on Tuesday. South Plains Financial has a twelve month low of $33.66 and a twelve month high of $45.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $757.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.50.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $54.08 million. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 20.22% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Equities analysts anticipate that South Plains Financial will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

South Plains Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 27th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.05%.

South Plains Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.