South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 31,200 shares, a decrease of 23.5% from the May 15th total of 40,800 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 32,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Institutional Trading of South Plains Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 3.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 209,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,595,000 after buying an additional 7,562 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,497,000 after purchasing an additional 12,196 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 95,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 7,175 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 45.1% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Salzhauer Michael acquired a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $268,000. 54.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

South Plains Financial Stock Down 1.4 %

South Plains Financial stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.27. 18,567 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 33,280. The company’s 50-day moving average is $26.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.95. 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 has a 52-week low of $21.96 and a 52-week high of $30.22. The firm has a market cap of $414.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.56.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.06. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 21.23% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The firm had revenue of $46.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.20 million. On average, analysts predict that South Plains Financial will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group dropped their price objective on South Plains Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th.

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.