Note P - Stockholders' Equity

9 Months Ended

Dec. 26, 2021

Notes to Financial Statements

Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]

NOTE P – STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

1. Dividends

Effective June 11, 2021, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) declared its first quarterly cash dividend of $0.35 per share for fiscal year 2022, aggregating $1,440,000, which was paid on June 25, 2021 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on June 21, 2021.

Effective August 6, 2021, the Board declared its second quarterly cash dividend of $0.35 per share for fiscal year 2022, aggregating $1,440,000, which was paid on September 3, 2021 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 23, 2021.

Effective November 5, 2021, the Board declared its third quarterly cash dividend of $0.35 per share for fiscal year 2022, aggregating $1,440,000, which was paid on December 3, 2021 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on November 22, 2021.

Effective February 4, 2022, the Board authorized the increase of its regular dividend from $0.35 to $0.45 per quarter and declared its fourth quarterly cash dividend of $0.45 per share payable on March 4, 2022 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 21, 2022.

Our ability to pay future dividends is limited by the terms of the Indenture with U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee and collateral trustee (see Note Q). In addition to the terms of the Indenture, the declaration and payment of any cash dividends in the future are subject to final determination of the Board and will be dependent upon our earnings and financial requirements.

2. Stock Incentive Plans

On September 18, 2019, the Company’s shareholders approved the Nathan’s Famous, Inc. 2019 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2019 Plan”). The 2019 Plan became effective as of July 1, 2020 (the "Effective Date"). Following the Effective Date, (i) no additional stock awards were granted under the 2010 Plan and (ii) all outstanding stock awards previously granted under the 2010 Plan remained subject to the terms of the 2010 Plan. All awards granted on or after the Effective Date are subject to the terms of the 2019 Plan.

As of the Effective Date, we were able to issue up to: (a) 369,584 shares of common stock under the 2019 Plan which includes: (i) shares that had been authorized but not issued pursuant to the 2010 Plan as of the Effective Date up to a maximum of an additional 208,584 shares and (ii) any shares subject to any outstanding options or restricted stock grants under any plan of the Company that were outstanding as of the Effective Date and that subsequently expired unexercised, or were otherwise forfeited, up to a maximum of an additional 11,000 shares. As of December 26, 2021, there were up to 198,584 shares available to be issued for future option grants or up to 181,683 shares of restricted stock to be granted under the 2019 Plan.

3. Stock Repurchase Program

During the period from October 2001 through December 26, 2021, Nathan’s purchased 5,254,081 shares of common stock at a cost of $84,770,000 pursuant to various stock repurchase plans previously authorized by the Board. During the thirty-nine week period ended December 26, 2021, we did not repurchase any shares of common stock.

In 2016, the Board authorized increases to the sixth stock repurchase plan for the purchase of up to 1,200,000 shares of its common stock on behalf of the Company. As of December 26, 2021, Nathan’s had repurchased 1,066,450 shares at a cost of $37,108,000 under the sixth stock repurchase plan. At December 26, 2021 there were 133,550 shares remaining to be repurchased pursuant to the sixth stock repurchase plan. The plan does not have a set expiration date. Purchases under the Company’s stock repurchase program may be made from time to time, depending on market conditions, in open market or privately negotiated transactions, at prices deemed appropriate by management. There is no set time limit on the repurchases.

On March 13, 2020, the Board approved a 10b5-1 stock plan (the “10b5-1 Plan”) which expired on August 12, 2020. During the fiscal 2021 period, the Company repurchased in open market transactions 26,676 shares of the Company’s common stock at an average share price of $56.26 for a total cost of $1,501,000 under the 10b5-1 Plan.