South Plains Financial, Inc. (SPFI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.14 on May 13th

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) announced 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 is Friday, April 26th. This is a boost from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13.

South Plains Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 54.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. South Plains Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 20.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $427.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.16 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $25.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.86. South Plains Financial has a 52 week low of $18.75 and a 52 week high of $30.22.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $66.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.25 million. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 21.54% and a return on equity of 11.06%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that South Plains Financial will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $2,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,103,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,318,975.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $2,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,103,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,318,975.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Noe G. Valles acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.00 per share, with a total value of $810,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 195,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,278,824. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 25.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On South Plains Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in South Plains Financial by 193.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 60.7% in the 1st 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 period. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of South Plains Financial by 676.4% in the 1st 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 period. Finally, UBS Group AG purchased a new position in shares of South Plains Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.