South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.14 Per Share

South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 payment by an average of 54.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. South Plains Financial has a payout ratio of 20.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Price Performance

SPFI opened at $26.00 on Friday. 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 $427.18 million, a PE ratio of 7.16 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average is $25.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.86. South Plains Financial has a 1 year low of $18.75 and a 1 year high of $30.22.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $66.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.25 million. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 21.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that South Plains Financial will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 100,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,103,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,318,975.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,103,797 shares in the company, valued at $27,318,975.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $1,250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,253,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,344,925. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 25.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On South Plains Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPFI. FMR LLC boosted 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in South Plains Financial during the third quarter worth $56,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted 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 worth $58,000 after buying an additional 2,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG acquired a new position in South Plains Financial during the fourth quarter worth $101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.95% of the company’s stock.

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.