Coca-Cola has announced a 5.4 percent dividend increase for its shareholders to be effective early April.
The increase approved by the company’s Board of Directors will raise the annual dividend from last year’s $1.48 to $1.56 per share.
Coca-Cola says the increase will be applicable to shareowners on record as of March 15, 2018.
The company attributes the dividend increase to increased cash flow. Since 2010, the company has reported $41.5 billion in dividends paid to its shareholders, with $6.3 billion paid last year.
Meanwhile, the company has also appointed two more members to its Board of Directors.
According to a company statement, Christopher Davis and Caroline Tsay will stand for election to the board during the shareholders annual meeting in April.
Davis is the chairman of an independent investment management firm, Davis Advisors, has also served as a research analyst at Tanaka Capital Management and as an accountant at State Street Bank and Trust Co.
Tsay is the CEO of California-based cloud infrastructure software company Compute Software Inc. She has also previously served as Vice President and General Manager of Software at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.
“We have nominated Chris and Caroline to join our board because they would bring valuable expertise and new perspectives to our business,” said Muhtar Kent, Chairman of The Coca-Cola Company.
If elected, the appointee will serve on the board’s compensation and audit committees.
