Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPOK) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.31

Key Points

• Spok Holdings, Inc. declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, with an annualized yield of 6.8%, payable on September 9th to investors recorded by August 19th.
• The company has a high dividend payout ratio of 158.2%, indicating it is relying on its balance sheet to sustain dividend payments due to weak earnings performance.
• Spok's stock saw a 7.7% increase in value, trading at $18.34, following its earnings report where it beat analysts' expectations by posting an EPS of $0.22.

Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPOK - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 31st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of 0.3125 per share by the Wireless communications provider on Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th.

Spok has a dividend payout ratio of 158.2% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Spok to earn $0.79 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.25 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 158.2%.

Spok Trading Up 7.7%

SPOK traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $18.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 216,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 124,497. Spok has a fifty-two week low of $13.55 and a fifty-two week high of $19.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $377.29 million, a PE ratio of 23.51 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.42.

Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. Spok had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 11.45%. The firm had revenue of $35.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $35.00 million. Research analysts expect that Spok will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spok

In other news, CEO Vincent D. Kelly sold 30,000 shares of Spok stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total transaction of $492,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,588,198.80. This trade represents a 15.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael W. Wallace sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.53, for a total value of $99,180.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 61,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,011,222.75. This represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spok

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Spok by 339.9% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,421 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Spok by 309.2% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,317 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spok in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Spok by 62.2% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,200 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Spok by 862.1% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,790 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. 50.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spok Company Profile

Spok Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiary, Spok, Inc, provides healthcare communication solutions in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East. The company's products and services enhance workflows for clinicians and support administrative compliance. It delivers clinical information to care teams when and where it matters to enhance patient outcomes; and provides GenA Pager, a one-way alphanumeric pager.

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