Analysts Set South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Target Price at $49.60

Shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.60.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SPFI shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of South Plains Financial in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded South Plains Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of South Plains Financial in a research report on Monday, July 20th.

Insider Transactions at South Plains Financial

In other news, Director James Stein sold 100,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.54, for a total value of $4,454,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 242,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,817,518.88. The trade was a 29.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard Campbell sold 132,714 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total value of $5,938,951.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,412,255 shares in the company, valued at $63,198,411.25. This represents a 8.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 260,000 shares of company stock worth $11,624,642. Company insiders own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On South Plains Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in South Plains Financial in the second quarter valued at about $61,644,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in South Plains Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,426,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,981,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,346,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,755,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

SPFI stock opened at $43.88 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $826.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. South Plains Financial has a 52-week low of $35.34 and a 52-week high of $46.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.66.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $64.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 12.36% and a net margin of 20.79%. Equities research analysts expect that South Plains Financial will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 27th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a boost from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 27th. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

South Plains Financial Company Profile

South Plains Financial, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Lubbock, Texas. Through its subsidiary, City Bank, the company provides banking services to businesses, agricultural customers, professionals and individual consumers.

City Bank offers commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgage loans, business and personal deposit accounts, treasury management and other financial services. Its lending activities include real estate, commercial, agricultural and consumer loans, while its deposit products include checking, savings and time-deposit accounts.

The company primarily serves communities in West Texas and parts of New Mexico through a network of banking locations and digital banking services.