South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.14

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.14 per share on Monday, May 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13.

South Plains Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 54.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 5 years. South Plains Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 21.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect South Plains Financial to earn $2.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.0%.

South Plains Financial Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ SPFI opened at $26.73 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.86. South Plains Financial has a fifty-two week low of $18.75 and a fifty-two week high of $30.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $439.17 million, a P/E ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $66.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.25 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 21.54%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that South Plains Financial will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Noe G. Valles acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.00 per share, for a total transaction of $810,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 195,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,278,824. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $2,475,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,103,797 shares in the company, valued at $27,318,975.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Noe G. Valles acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.00 per share, for a total transaction of $810,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 195,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,278,824. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 25.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.