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

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

South Plains Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 23.1% per year over the last three years. South Plains Financial has a payout ratio of 19.5% meaning 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 stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $34.88. The stock had a trading volume of 46,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,685. The stock has a market cap of $571.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $36.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.35. 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 Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $72.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.90 million. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that South Plains Financial will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.50, for a total value of $1,675,000.00. Following 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 trade represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 25.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Hovde Group increased their price target on South Plains Financial from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock 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.