South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Shares Bought by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC increased its stake in shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) by 39.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,397 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in South Plains Financial were worth $47,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 30,665 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in South Plains Financial by 14.3% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 239,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,451,000 after purchasing an additional 29,933 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 175,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,725,000 after purchasing an additional 22,695 shares during the period. Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial during the third quarter worth about $504,000. Finally, Salzhauer Michael boosted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 87.1% in the second quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 18,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 8,708 shares during the period. 54.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.50, for a total value of $1,675,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 865,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,009,894.50. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 25.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SPFI opened at $35.72 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $37.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.22. The company has a market cap of $585.45 million, a P/E ratio of 13.90 and a beta of 0.60. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.05 and a 12-month high of $40.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.01. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The firm 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 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 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.