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

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be given 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.

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 payout ratio of 21.7% meaning 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

Shares of South Plains Financial stock opened at $26.40 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $433.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $25.85 and a 200 day moving average of $26.86. South Plains Financial has a 12 month low of $18.75 and a 12 month high of $30.22.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $66.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that South Plains Financial will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Noe G. Valles bought 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.00 per share, for a total transaction of $810,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 195,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,278,824. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Noe G. Valles bought 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.00 per share, with a total value of $810,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 195,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,278,824. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate 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.