South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) CEO Sells $288,689.10 in Stock

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 9,591 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.10, for a total value of $288,689.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 987,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,717,940.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

South Plains Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

South Plains Financial stock opened at $30.63 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $23.75 and a one year high of $33.85. The stock has a market cap of $502.91 million, a PE ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 0.59.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.10. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 16.53%. The company had revenue of $71.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.50 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 29th. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio is 14.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SPFI. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 12,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 3,236 shares during the last quarter. Salzhauer Michael purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the first quarter worth about $268,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 8.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 95,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 7,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,497,000 after purchasing an additional 12,196 shares during the last quarter. 54.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SPFI. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on South Plains Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Hovde Group increased their price target on South Plains Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th.

South Plains Financial Company Profile

South Plains Financial, Inc operates as a bank holding company for City Bank that provides commercial and consumer financial services to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It offers deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, interest-bearing products, savings accounts, and certificate of deposits.