AUSTIN, Texas, March 03, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jones Energy, Inc. (NYSE:JONE) (“Jones Energy” or “the Company”) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a special stock dividend of 0.087423 shares of the Company’s Class A common stock, $0.001 par value (“Class A Common Stock”), for each outstanding share of Class A Common Stock (based on the number of shares outstanding on the date hereof). The special stock dividend is payable on March 31, 2017 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 15, 2017. In lieu of issuing fractional shares of Class A Common Stock, cash will be distributed.
From time-to-time, the Company’s subsidiary Jones Energy Holdings, LLC (“JEH”) makes cash distributions to the holders of common units representing membership interests in JEH (“JEH Common Units”) to cover tax obligations that may occur as a result of any net taxable income of JEH allocable to holders of JEH Common Units. As a JEH Common Unit holder, the Company has received such cash distributions from JEH in excess of the amount required to satisfy the Company’s associated tax obligations. As a result, the Company is using the excess cash of approximately $17.5 million in the aggregate to acquire newly-issued JEH Common Units from JEH, who will use the $17.5 million in proceeds to pay down debt outstanding under its credit facility.
The stock dividend has been declared in order to equalize the number of shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding to the number of JEH Common Units held by the Company, and the aggregate number of Class A Common Stock issued in the stock dividend will equal the number of additional JEH Common Units the Company is purchasing from JEH. The JEH Common Units will be purchased at a price of $3.50 per share, which is the volume weighted average price per share of the Class A Common stock for the five trading days ended February 28, 2017. Cash payments in lieu of fractional shares will also be made on the basis of a value per share of Class A Common Stock of $3.50 per share.
Stockholders are not required to take any action in order to receive the stock dividend or cash in lieu of fractional shares, and the book entry accounts of the stockholders of record will automatically be credited with the additional shares representing the stock dividend. Stockholders will be paid for the value of any fractional shares that would have been received in lieu of any such fractional shares. Where shares are held in a brokerage account, the additional shares will be distributed to the broker on the stockholder’s behalf. The stock dividend is being administered by American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, the Company's transfer agent.
The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends on shares of Class A Common Stock will be at the sole discretion of Jones Energy’s board of directors and the amount and timing of any future dividends cannot be predicted at this time.
2016 Fourth Quarter and Full-Year Earnings Release and Conference Call
Jones Energy also announced today that it plans to release its fourth quarter and full-year 2016 financial and operational results on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 after the market closes. In connection with the earnings release, Jones Energy will host a conference call for investors and analysts to discuss its results on Thursday, March 9, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. ET (9:30 a.m. CT). The conference call can be accessed via webcast through the Investor Relations section of Jones Energy’s website, www.jonesenergy.com, or by dialing (877) 201-0168 (for domestic U.S.) or (647) 788-4901 (International) and entering conference code 61121644.
If you are not able to participate in the conference call, the webcast replay and a downloadable audio file will be available shortly following the call through the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website, www.jonesenergy.com.
About Jones Energy
Jones Energy, Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas company engaged in the development and acquisition of oil and natural gas properties in the Anadarko and Arkoma basins of Texas and Oklahoma. Additional information about Jones Energy may be found on the Company’s website at: www.jonesenergy.com.