IHOP 2012 Annual Report Download - page 44

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Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
We are subject to various lawsuits, administrative proceedings, audits, and claims arising in the ordinary course of business.
Some of these lawsuits purport to be class actions and/or seek substantial damages. We are required to record an accrual for
litigation loss contingencies that are both probable and reasonably estimable. Legal fees and expenses associated with the defense
of all of our litigation are expensed as such fees and expenses are incurred. Management regularly assesses our insurance deductibles,
analyzes litigation information with our attorneys and evaluates our loss experience in connection with pending legal proceedings.
While we do not presently believe that any of the legal proceedings to which we are currently a party will ultimately have a material
adverse impact on us, there can be no assurance that we will prevail in all the proceedings we are party to, or that we will not incur
material losses from them.
As previously disclosed, we defended a collective action, Gerald Fast v. Applebee's International, Inc., in the United States
District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Central Division that commenced in July 2006. In this case, the plaintiffs
claimed that tipped servers and bartenders in Applebee's company-operated restaurants spent more than 20% of their time
performing general preparation and maintenance duties, or “non-tipped work,” for which they should be compensated at the
minimum wage. Under this action, plaintiffs sought unpaid wages and other relief of up to $17 million plus plaintiffs' attorneys'
fees and expenses. We entered into a settlement agreement on September 25, 2012 to settle the action for $9.1 million, and the
court granted final approval of the settlement and dismissed the action on November 1, 2012. We funded the settlement on
December 6, 2012.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosure.
Not Applicable.
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity
Securities.
Market Information
Our common stock is traded on the NYSE under the symbol "DIN". The following table sets forth the high and low sales
prices of our common stock on the NYSE for each quarter of 2012 and 2011. We did not pay dividends on our common stock in
2012 and 2011.
Fiscal Year 2012 Fiscal Year 2011
Prices Prices
Quarter High Low High Low
First...................................................................................... $ 54.74 $ 40.28 $ 60.11 $ 49.46
Second ................................................................................. $ 53.90 $ 41.63 $ 56.78 $ 46.26
Third .................................................................................... $ 57.40 $ 41.49 $ 56.37 $ 35.47
Fourth .................................................................................. $ 68.47 $ 55.51 $ 49.64 $ 35.20
Holders
The number of stockholders of record and beneficial owners of our common stock as of February 8, 2013 was estimated to
be 6,200.
Dividends
Under our Credit Agreement, we are limited as to the total amount of permitted restricted payments, including dividends on
common stock, that may be made (see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
- Restricted Payments"). At December 31, 2012, the permitted amount of restricted payments was approximately $85 million. We
evaluate dividend payments on our common stock within the context of our overall capital allocation strategy with our Board of
Directors on an ongoing basis, giving consideration to our current and forecast earnings, financial condition, cash requirements,
the limitations referenced above and other factors. On February 26, 2013, our Board of Directors approved payment of a cash
dividend of $0.75 per share of our common stock, payable at the close of business on March 29, 2013 to the stockholders of record
as of the close of business on March 15, 2013.