The DivGro Weekly—18.03.22

97 Consecutive dividend increases

This week we received further real-time, tangible evidence of outstanding business progress when American Tower raised its dividend by 13% and Wingstop announced a very significant special dividend.

We also received our dividend from Cintas and became entitled to our dividend from Pool Corp.

Since DivGro's inception we have now predicted and benefited from 97 consecutive dividend increases at an average annual increase rate of 15.4%.

Wingstop's special dividend is of such magnitude that it represents more than 5 years of its quarterly dividends in a single payment, a prelude to Wingstop's emerging dividend power. Capitalizing on a universal love of chicken wings, one of Wingstop's 'secret sauces' lies in its tantalizing franchisee economics. We estimate franchisees earn a return on their capital exceeding 50%. It is therefore unsurprising that candidates are literally queuing up for the right to open new stores. Superior franchisee economics is a proven leading indicator for the success of a franchising system, and has so far underpinned Wingstop's explosive dividend growth, rising at more than 25% per year since initiating quarterly dividends in 2017.