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

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 17th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share on Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date 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 payment by an average of 54.9% per year over the last three years. South Plains Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 20.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.4%.

South Plains Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of SPFI opened at $35.21 on Friday. South Plains Financial has a 1-year low of $24.05 and a 1-year high of $35.49. The company has a market capitalization of $578.11 million, a P/E ratio of 9.41 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. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.57.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $71.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.50 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 11.42% and a net margin of 16.53%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that South Plains Financial will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of 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 increased their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Noe G. Valles bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.00 per share, with a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 336,437 shares in the company, valued at $10,093,110. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other South Plains Financial news, Director Noe G. Valles bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.00 per share, with a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 336,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,093,110. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 9,591 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.10, for a total value of $288,689.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 987,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,717,940.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 25.39% of the company’s stock.

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.