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

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 given a dividend of 0.14 per share on Monday, May 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th.

South Plains Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 54.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 4 years. South Plains Financial has a payout ratio of 20.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect South Plains Financial to earn $2.57 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.2%.

South Plains Financial Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ SPFI opened at $26.00 on Friday. South Plains Financial has a one year low of $18.75 and a one year high of $30.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $427.18 million, a PE ratio of 7.16 and a beta of 0.56.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.61 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 business had revenue of $66.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that South Plains Financial will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Raymond James boosted 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 note on Monday, January 29th.

Insider Transactions at South Plains Financial

In other news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $1,250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,253,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,344,925. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $31,344,925. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 25.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of South Plains Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in South Plains Financial by 60.7% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in South Plains Financial by 193.5% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in South Plains Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in South Plains Financial by 676.4% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG acquired a new stake in South Plains Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,000. 54.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.