South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Price Target Increased to $41.00 by Analysts at Hovde Group

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) had its price objective upped by Hovde Group from $36.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Separately, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SPFI traded down $0.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $33.48. The company had a trading volume of 24,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,585. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $549.71 million, a P/E ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.58. South Plains Financial has a 12 month low of $24.05 and a 12 month high of $35.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.01. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 16.53% and a return on equity of 11.42%. The company had revenue of $72.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that South Plains Financial will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other South Plains Financial news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 9,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Noe G. Valles purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.00 per share, with a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 336,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,093,110. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 9,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.10, for a total transaction of $288,689.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 987,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,717,940.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 25.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On South Plains Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SPFI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 364,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,837,000 after purchasing an additional 30,665 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in South Plains Financial by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 239,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,451,000 after acquiring an additional 29,933 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in South Plains Financial by 14.9% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Creative Planning purchased a new position in South Plains Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $504,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in South Plains Financial by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,497,000 after acquiring an additional 12,196 shares during the period. 54.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.