Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Takes $2.88 Million Position in South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 84,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,882,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.52% of South Plains Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 worth $9,837,000 after acquiring an additional 30,665 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of South Plains Financial by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 239,078 shares of the company's stock worth $6,451,000 after purchasing an additional 29,933 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 14.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 175,013 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,725,000 after purchasing an additional 22,695 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning purchased a new position in South Plains Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $504,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in South Plains Financial by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,732 shares of the company's stock worth $14,497,000 after buying an additional 12,196 shares in the last quarter. 54.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.50, for a total transaction of $1,675,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 865,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,009,894.50. This trade represents a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 25.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

South Plains Financial Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SPFI traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.30. The stock had a trading volume of 23,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,082. South Plains Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $24.05 and a one year high of $40.90. The company has a market capitalization of $627.74 million, a P/E ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 0.60. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $36.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.28. 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 (NASDAQ:SPFI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share 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 10.39%. The firm had revenue of $72.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that South Plains Financial, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from South Plains Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. 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 1.57%. South Plains Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Hovde Group increased their target price on South Plains Financial from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

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.