Martingale Asset Management L P Has $1.36 Million Stock Holdings in South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI)

Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) by 19.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,074 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,535 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P owned approximately 0.24% of South Plains Financial worth $1,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 72.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 1,891 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in South Plains Financial by 39.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in South Plains Financial by 2.1% in the third quarter. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 84,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE acquired a new stake in South Plains Financial in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new stake in South Plains Financial in the third quarter worth about $504,000. 54.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $1,675,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 865,967 shares in the company, valued at $29,009,894.50. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 25.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

Shares of SPFI opened at $38.89 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. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.05 and a 1 year high of $40.90. The stock has a market cap of $637.41 million, a P/E ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.91.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.01. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 15.51%. The firm had revenue of $72.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. This is a boost from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.