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

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%.

South Plains Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 23.1% per year over the last three years. South Plains Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 19.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect South Plains Financial to earn $2.70 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 22.2%.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

SPFI opened at $34.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $571.68 million, a P/E ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.60 and a 200-day moving average of $34.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. South Plains Financial has a 12-month low of $24.05 and a 12-month high of $40.90.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.29. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that South Plains Financial will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at South Plains Financial

In other news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.50, for a total transaction of $1,675,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 865,967 shares in the company, valued at $29,009,894.50. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 25.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of South Plains Financial from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

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.