South Plains Financial, Inc. (SPFI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 on February 18th

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 31st,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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd.

South Plains Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 23.1% annually over the last three years. South Plains Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 18.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect South Plains Financial to earn $3.28 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 18.3%.

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ SPFI opened at $35.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $588.89 million, a P/E ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.65. South Plains Financial has a 1-year low of $24.05 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.29. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 17.20% and a return on equity of 11.75%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that South Plains Financial will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at South Plains Financial

In other news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 865,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,009,894.50. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 25.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SPFI. Hovde Group increased their price objective on South Plains Financial from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (down previously from $46.00) on shares of South Plains Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

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.