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

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th.

South Plains Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 54.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 5 years. South Plains Financial has a payout ratio of 21.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Price Performance

SPFI opened at $26.73 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $25.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.86. South Plains Financial has a 1 year low of $18.75 and a 1 year high of $30.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $439.17 million, a PE ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Insider Transactions at South Plains Financial

In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,253,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,344,925. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,253,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,344,925. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 100,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $2,475,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,103,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,318,975.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 25.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Raymond James lifted their target price on South Plains Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th.

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.