BURLINGTON, Mass. and PLANO, Texas, U.S. – Keurig Dr Pepper announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a 25% increase in its annualized dividend rate to $0.75 per share, from the current annualized rate of $0.60 per share, effective with the Company’s regular quarterly dividend to be announced in the second quarter of 2021, subject to official declaration by the Board of Directors.
This 25% increase will result in growth of 12.5% in dividends paid in 2021 and another 11.1% increase in dividends paid in 2022, given the calendar timing of both the increase and dividend payments.
Due to Keurig Dr Pepper ‘s strong free cash flow generation and despite the 25% annualized dividend increase, the Company’s dividend payout ratio is expected to remain less than 50% of free cash flow.
Keurig Dr Pepper also announced that its Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share, payable in U.S. dollars, on the Company’s common stock. The regular quarterly dividend will be paid on April 15, 2021 to shareholders of record on April 1, 2021.
Commenting on the announcement, Keurig Dr Pepper CFO and President, International, Ozan Dokmecioglu, stated, “We have rapidly reduced our leverage since the merger and are now in the position to also allocate additional capital to shareholders, while continuing to reinvest in the business.
The exceptional free cash flow generation of KDP enables us this flexibility without compromising our ability to continue to reduce leverage to our targeted level by year-end.”
