South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Increases Dividend to $0.14 Per Share

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders 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 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This is an increase from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13.

South Plains Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 54.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 5 consecutive years. South Plains Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 21.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SPFI opened at $26.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $433.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27 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 has a 1-year low of $18.75 and a 1-year high of $30.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $25.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.86.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 21.54%. The firm had revenue of $66.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that South Plains Financial will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at South Plains Financial

In other South Plains Financial news, Director Noe G. Valles bought 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.00 per share, for a total transaction of $810,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 195,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,278,824. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 100,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Noe G. Valles acquired 30,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.00 per share, for a total transaction of $810,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 195,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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.