South Plains Financial, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 (NASDAQ:SPFI)

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%.

South Plains Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 23.1% per year over the last three years. South Plains Financial has a payout ratio of 19.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect South Plains Financial to earn $2.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.2%.

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ SPFI traded up $0.33 during trading on Thursday, reaching $34.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 46,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,685. The firm has a market cap of $571.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 0.62. South Plains Financial has a twelve month low of $24.05 and a twelve month high of $40.90. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $72.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that South Plains Financial will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at South Plains Financial

In other news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 865,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,009,894.50. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 25.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Hovde Group boosted their target price 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.

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.