South Plains Financial, Inc. $SPFI Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) by 11.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,765 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,877 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned about 0.60% of South Plains Financial worth $4,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the second quarter worth $32,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 138.8% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 1,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in South Plains Financial in the third quarter valued at $60,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in South Plains Financial by 11.0% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in South Plains Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $106,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James D. Stein sold 1,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $62,509.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 342,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,738,881.04. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 30,000 shares of company stock worth $1,204,340 over the last 90 days. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

South Plains Financial Trading Up 2.0%

SPFI opened at $45.37 on Wednesday. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $35.34 and a one year high of $46.94. The company has a market cap of $868.84 million, a P/E ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 0.46. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.87.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $64.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 20.79%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 27th. This is an increase from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 19.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPFI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded South Plains Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective (up from $48.00) on shares of South Plains Financial in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings raised South Plains Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of South Plains Financial in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of South Plains Financial from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, South Plains Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.60.

South Plains Financial 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.