Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $264,000 Stake in South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its stake in South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) by 68.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,607 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,740 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in South Plains Financial were worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SPFI. FMR LLC lifted its position in South Plains Financial by 39.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the fourth quarter worth $101,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of South Plains Financial by 72.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,891 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in South Plains Financial by 20.9% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 4,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in South Plains Financial by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. 54.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Noe G. Valles bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $33.00 per share, for a total transaction of $3,300,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 486,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,052,421. The trade was a 25.88 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 21,443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $758,224.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 807,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,544,006.40. This trade represents a 2.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,061 shares of company stock valued at $1,493,613 over the last 90 days. 25.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPFI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Hovde Group raised their price target on South Plains Financial from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down previously from $46.00) on shares of South Plains Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

South Plains Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SPFI opened at $30.73 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $506.61 million, a PE ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 0.46. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.50 and a 1 year high of $40.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.08.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.29. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 17.20%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. Analysts expect that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 25th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

South Plains Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.55%.

South Plains Financial 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.