South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) to Repurchase $10.00 million in Stock

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 23rd, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SPFI. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of South Plains Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of South Plains Financial from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of South Plains Financial in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of South Plains Financial from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on South Plains Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $46.00.

South Plains Financial Price Performance

South Plains Financial stock opened at $41.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $676 million, a P/E ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 0.60. South Plains Financial has a 12-month low of $30.01 and a 12-month high of $44.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.47.

South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.06. South Plains Financial had a net margin of 19.69% and a return on equity of 12.75%. The business had revenue of $53.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.11 million. Equities analysts predict that South Plains Financial will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

South Plains Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a positive change from South Plains Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. South Plains Financial’s payout ratio is 19.77%.

About South Plains Financial

South Plains Financial, Inc is the bank holding company for South Plains Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Lubbock, Texas. The company operates as a full-service commercial bank, providing a broad spectrum of banking solutions to individuals, small businesses and agricultural clients. Its principal subsidiary, South Plains Bank, holds state and national banking charters and is subject to regulatory oversight by the Federal Reserve and various state banking authorities.

The company’s product offerings include traditional deposit accounts such as checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as time deposits.