Amazingly, the UK has now had six chancellors in just five years. But at least the annual Stocks and Shares ISA allowance remains at a stable £20,000, enabling investors to generate a tax-free passive income.

Speaking of which, Hollywood Bowl (LSE:BOWL) strikes me as a solid dividend stock. It offers a generous forward yield of 4.9%, which is higher than the FTSE 250 average of 2.9%.

And after falling 20% in the past couple of years, the dividend stock appears to offer all-round value. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 14.2 is also cheaper than the index average.

So why aren’t investors snapping up Hollywood Bowl?

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A resilient business

To be fair, some have been buying because the stock has risen 10% over the last 12 months. However, given that the FTSE 250 is up 19% over this time, Hollywood Bowl is clearly somewhat out of favour.

I think this largely relates to the cost-of-living crisis, which has been a drag on all firms across the leisure and entertainment industry. Sadly, people just have less discretionary income nowadays, creating a challenging backdrop for Hollywood Bowl in its two markets (the UK and Canada).

Yet the ten-pin bowling operator has been putting up some resilient numbers, indicating that it’s faring far better than most. Revenue rose 9.5% to a record £141.5m in the six months to 31 March, with like-for-like sales growth of 2.6% in the UK.

Despite higher staffing costs and inflation, the group achieved adjusted EBITDA of £42.2m, representing growth of 8.9%.

Disciplined cost management is allowing the business to protect margins, with 76% of electricity now hedged to the end of FY29. And it’s worth noting that about 70% of group revenue isn’t subject to cost-of-goods inflation.

Value-for-money proposition

So what’s the secret sauce here? After all, you might have assumed bowling would be immediately chalked off the list of things to do when households budgets are tight.

Stepping back, I think it’s that Hollywood Bowl has a really strong customer proposition. While it utilises dynamic pricing algorithms to maximise revenue, a family of four can still sometimes go bowling for £26 in the UK and $32 in Canada. That remains affordable for many families.

Of course, as any parent knows, the costs start racking up once you’re in there, with amusements and arcades, food and drink all available. And this is helping, with UK spend per game up 7.6% in the first half, offsetting a 3.4% fall in game volumes.

Attractive dividend

As mentioned, the forward dividend yield is almost 5%, supported by strong cash generation and a robust balance sheet. While no payout is assured, the income prospects do look attractive to me (the interim dividend was hiked 10.2%).

At today’s price, 3,000 shares would cost around £8,520. Based on the forward yield, they would pay out roughly £417 in annual passive income.

A 450p price target

Putting all this together, I think Hollywood Bowl is a worth a look. Analysts at Berenberg Bank recently gave the stock a 450p price target, which is 58% higher.

Meanwhile, the average target is 39% higher.

By 2035, Hollywood Bowl plans to have 95 UK centres (up from 77 today), and 35 in Canada by 2032 (16 today). So there’s strong long-term growth potential here.

Should you invest £5,000 in Hollywood Bowl Group Plc right now?

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And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Hollywood Bowl Group Plc made the list?

Ben McPoland has no position in any of the companies mentioned.