South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Board Declares Stock Repurchase Plan

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 25th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

South Plains Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SPFI opened at $34.60 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.17. South Plains Financial has a 1-year low of $24.05 and a 1-year high of $40.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $567.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.62.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.29. South Plains Financial had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 17.20%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that South Plains Financial will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

South Plains Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. South Plains Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SPFI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 target price (down from $46.00) on shares of South Plains Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of South Plains Financial from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at South Plains Financial

In other news, CEO Curtis C. Griffith sold 5,196 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total transaction of $184,977.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 828,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,501,114.80. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 42,061 shares of company stock worth $1,493,613 in the last 90 days. 25.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

South Plains Financial Company Profile

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.