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

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $48.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 EPS.

South Plains Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SPFI traded down $0.32 on Friday, hitting $33.48. The company had a trading volume of 24,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,585. South Plains Financial has a 1 year low of $24.05 and a 1 year high of $35.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $549.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 16.04%.

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 that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $49,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 996,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,903,838. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other South Plains Financial news, Director Noe G. Valles purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 336,437 shares in the company, valued at $10,093,110. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 1,599 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $30,903,838. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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