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

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13.

South Plains Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 54.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 5 years. South Plains Financial has a payout ratio of 21.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Trading Up 1.3 %

SPFI opened at $26.73 on Thursday. South Plains Financial has a fifty-two week low of $18.75 and a fifty-two week high of $30.22. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $439.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $25.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.86.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.61 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $47.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that South Plains Financial will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 owns 1,103,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,318,975.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,253,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,344,925. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 owns 1,103,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,318,975.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 25.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Raymond James upped their price objective 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.

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.