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

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 17th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share on Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14.

South Plains Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 54.9% per year over the last three years. South Plains Financial has a payout ratio of 22.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect South Plains Financial to earn $2.74 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 21.9%.

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SPFI opened at $33.48 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.87. The stock has a market cap of $549.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. South Plains Financial has a one year low of $24.05 and a one year high of $35.61.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $72.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.90 million. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 16.53% and a return on equity of 11.42%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that South Plains Financial will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at South Plains Financial

In other news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 1,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $49,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 996,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,903,838. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 1,599 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $49,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 996,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,903,838. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Noe G. Valles acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 336,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,093,110. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 25.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPFI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on South Plains Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Hovde Group upped their target price on South Plains Financial from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday.

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.