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

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

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SPFI opened at $33.48 on Friday. South Plains Financial has a 12-month low of $24.05 and a 12-month high of $35.61. The company has a market cap of $549.71 million, a PE ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at South Plains Financial

In other South Plains Financial news, Director Noe G. Valles purchased 50,000 shares of South Plains Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 336,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,093,110. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other South Plains Financial news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 9,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.10, for a total value of $288,689.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 987,307 shares in the company, valued at $29,717,940.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Noe G. Valles purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 336,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,093,110. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 25.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SPFI. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of South Plains Financial from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on South Plains Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

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.