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

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be given a dividend of 0.14 per share on Monday, August 12th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 29th.

South Plains Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 54.9% per year over the last three years. South Plains Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 21.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect South Plains Financial to earn $2.58 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 21.7%.

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SPFI opened at $31.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $27.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.79. South Plains Financial has a 52 week low of $23.75 and a 52 week high of $31.67. The stock has a market cap of $513.09 million, a P/E ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 0.59.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.10. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 16.53%. The firm had revenue of $71.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that South Plains Financial will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at South Plains Financial

In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 7,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.12, for a total value of $204,519.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,055,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,581,858.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 25.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group boosted their price target on South Plains Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday.

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.