Creative Planning Invests $504,000 in South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI)

Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 14,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000. Creative Planning owned 0.09% of South Plains Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in South Plains Financial during the third quarter valued at $149,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in South Plains Financial by 45.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 5,624 shares during the period. Salzhauer Michael lifted its position in South Plains Financial by 87.1% during 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. Prospector Partners LLC lifted its position in South Plains Financial by 6.6% during the second quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 33,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in South Plains Financial by 8.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 63,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 4,787 shares during the period. 54.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

South Plains Financial Stock Up 2.6 %

SPFI stock opened at $34.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $564.80 million, a P/E ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.05 and a 52 week high of $35.61.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.01. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.59%. The business had revenue of $72.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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 announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio is presently 23.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at South Plains Financial

In related news, Director Noe G. Valles acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 336,437 shares in the company, valued at $10,093,110. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 25.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SPFI shares. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of South Plains Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

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.