Overview

* South Plains Q2 net income rises to $14.6 mln, up from $11.1 mln last year

* Diluted EPS for Q2 increases to $0.86

* Net interest margin expands to 4.07%, driven by steady margin expansion

Outlook

* Company aims to expand lending capabilities and add experienced commercial lenders

* South Plains sees stable, lower-cost funding from community-based deposits.

Result Drivers

* NET INTEREST INCOME - Increased to $42.5 million due to higher loan yields and a $1.7 million interest recovery

* LOAN GROWTH - Continued despite high levels of loan payoffs, supported by stable deposit funding

* MARGIN EXPANSION - Net interest margin improved to 4.07% driven by lower deposit costs and higher loan rates

Key Details

Metric Beat/Mis Actual Consensu

s s

Estimate

Q2 EPS $0.86

Q2 Net $14.60

Income mln

Q2 Net $42.50

Interest mln

Income

Q2 -$2.50

Credit mln

Loss

Provisio

n

Q2 Net 4.1%

Interest

Margin

Analyst Coverage

* The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 4 "strong buy" or "buy", no "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"

* The average consensus recommendation for the banks peer group is "buy"

* Wall Street's median 12-month price target for South Plains Financial Inc ( SPFI ) is $43.50, about 15.8% above its July 15 closing price of $36.63

* The stock recently traded at 11 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 11 three months ago

Press Release:

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)