34,639 Shares in South Plains Financial, Inc. $SPFI Bought by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 34,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,451,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SPFI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in South Plains Financial by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 437,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,994,000 after acquiring an additional 57,008 shares in the last quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,624,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 349.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 63.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 72,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,799,000 after purchasing an additional 29,509 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPFI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of South Plains Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Zacks Research cut South Plains Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings raised South Plains Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target 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. Finally, Benchmark began coverage on South Plains Financial in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $47.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other South Plains Financial news, Director James D. Stein sold 13,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total value of $540,295.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 344,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,780,724.32. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,204,340. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

Shares of SPFI stock traded up $0.32 on Friday, reaching $42.46. 119,662 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 188,103. The company has a market cap of $813.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.34 and a 1 year high of $45.09.

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

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 27th. 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.