JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Stock Position in South Plains Financial, Inc. $SPFI

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 380,987 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,420 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 2.35% of South Plains Financial worth $14,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in South Plains Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $336,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 5.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 292,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,552,000 after buying an additional 14,471 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $321,000. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new position in South Plains Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $4,708,000. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in South Plains Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $875,000. 54.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SPFI. Hovde Group raised their price objective on South Plains Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of South Plains Financial from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of South Plains Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of South Plains Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, South Plains Financial has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $46.75.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SPFI opened at $41.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $681.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.63. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.01 and a 12 month high of $44.00.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 19.69% and a return on equity of 12.75%. The firm had revenue of $53.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.11 million. Analysts expect that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio is currently 19.77%.

South Plains Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.