Evolving Systems, Inc. (EVOL), a leading provider of software solutions and services to the wireless, wireline and IP carrier market, announced it will distribute approximately $19.3 million in cash to stockholders in the form of a $1.70 per share, one-time special dividend. The special dividend will be payable on May 29, 2012. If a stockholder sells their shares before May 30, 2012, the stockholder will have to relinquish the dividend to the buyer. EVOL is trading at $7.10 making the special dividend a 24% dividend yield.
“This will be our second special dividend paid in 2012, underscoring the Board of Directors’ commitment to return value to stockholders,” said Thad Dupper, Chairman and CEO. “Our two special dividends, combined with regular quarterly dividends we began paying in 2010, bring the total cash returned to stockholders to $4.05 per share, or over $45.0 million. At the same time we continue to invest in product development and other growth initiatives and maintain a strong, debt-free balance sheet.”
As of the first quarter ended March 31, 2012, Evolving Systems had cash and cash equivalents combined with long-term investments in marketable debt securities that totaled $31.0 million.
Anixter International Inc. (AXE), a leading global distributor of communication and security products, electrical and electronic wire & cable, fasteners and other small parts, announced that it’s Board of Directors declared the payment of a special dividend to shareholders of $4.50 per common share, or a total cash outlay of approximately $150 million. The special dividend is payable on May 31, 2012 to shareholders of record on May 16, 2012. AXE is trading at $61.71 for a special dividend yield of 7.29%.
SMTP (STMP) is a leading provider of cloud-based services to facilitate email deliverability, including bulk and transactional sending, reputation management, compliance auditing, abuse processing and issue resolution. Our services provide customers with the ability to increase the deliverability of email with less time, cost and complexity than handling it themselves. SMTP trades OTC at $1.24 per share for a total dividend yield of 11.5%.
Special Dividend. We have a cash surplus that has been earned over the last several years in excess of $1.4 million, and we intend to distribute $1.4 million in cash to our shareholders in the form of a Special Dividend, which will be paid on 5/31/12 to shareholders of record as of 5/21/12 (the “Record Date”). In the event that an outstanding warrant to purchase up to 800,000 shares of common stock at a $0.625 strike price is exercised before the Record Date, the special dividend will be increased to up to approximately $1.9 million.
Quarterly Dividend. Additionally, we intend to commence the payment of a regular quarterly dividend to our common stockholders, initially in the amount of $200,000 per quarter, which will be included with the special dividend payment and will be paid on 5/31/12 to the same special dividend Record Date shareholders. The initial quarterly dividend represents approximately 90% of one fiscal quarter of our 2011 net after tax earnings. Going forward, we intend to continue regular dividend payments each quarter (approximately 45 days after quarter end), with a general guideline of paying out 80%-90% of each fiscal quarter’s net earnings. We believe that our quarterly dividend payments will generally increase each quarter, as we focus on maintaining strong profitability, with consistent top-line growth.