South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Short Interest Update

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 36,100 shares, a decline of 30.4% from the December 15th total of 51,900 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 35,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on South Plains Financial from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.50, for a total transaction of $1,675,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 865,967 shares in the company, valued at $29,009,894.50. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 25.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On South Plains Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 9.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 364,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,837,000 after acquiring an additional 30,665 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 4.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 274,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,318,000 after acquiring an additional 12,271 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 272,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,248,000 after acquiring an additional 6,292 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 200.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 175,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,962,000 after acquiring an additional 117,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 14.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 175,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,725,000 after acquiring an additional 22,695 shares in the last quarter. 54.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

South Plains Financial Stock Up 2.0 %

SPFI stock traded up $0.68 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.72. 5,312 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 34,747. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.14 and its 200 day moving average is $34.08. South Plains Financial has a twelve month low of $24.05 and a twelve month high of $40.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $569.06 million, a P/E ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 0.62.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $72.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.90 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that South Plains Financial will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.35%.

About South Plains Financial

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.