South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.01, Yahoo Finance reports. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 16.53% and a return on equity of 11.42%. The company had revenue of $72.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

South Plains Financial stock traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.48. 24,794 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,585. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $549.71 million, a P/E ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.58. South Plains Financial has a 12 month low of $24.05 and a 12 month high of $35.61. The business’s 50-day moving average is $33.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.81.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. This is a boost from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SPFI shares. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other South Plains Financial news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 1,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $49,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 996,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,903,838. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 1,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $49,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 996,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,903,838. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 9,591 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.10, for a total transaction of $288,689.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 987,307 shares in the company, valued at $29,717,940.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 25.39% 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.