Coca-Cola announces dividend increases for shareholders

The Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta. (DAVID BARNES / DAVID.BARNES@AJC.COM)

The Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta. (DAVID BARNES / DAVID.BARNES@AJC.COM)

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.

One of the world's top 10 private employers, Coca-Cola employs about 130,000 people world-wide Coca-Cola employees have a variety of supply chain and corporate business functions You should reinforce the brand's values such as leadership, passion, integrity and accountability Analyze your strengths and style to see if you think you'd be a good match for a particular position Consider the company's mission and values, and decide if you'd like to work for Coke Glassdoor ranks Coke's interview process as a

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.