South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.29 EPS

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) issued its earnings results on Friday. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.29, RTT News reports. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.39%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ SPFI opened at $36.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. South Plains Financial has a 12-month low of $24.05 and a 12-month high of $40.90. The company has a market capitalization of $601.28 million, a PE ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.60 and its 200-day moving average is $34.35.

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Hovde Group lifted 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, October 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other South Plains Financial news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.50, for a total value of $1,675,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 865,967 shares in the company, valued at $29,009,894.50. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 25.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.