Genuine Parts Co. (GPC) announced today a 4% increase in the regular quarterly cash dividend for 2020. GPC’s board of directors, at its February 17 board meeting, increased the cash dividend payable to an annual rate of $3.16 per share compared with the previous dividend of $3.05 per share. The quarterly cash dividend of 79 cents per share is payable April 1, 2020, to shareholders of record March 6, 2020. GPC has paid a cash dividend every year since going public in 1948, and 2020 marks the 64th consecutive year of increased dividends paid to shareholders.
GPC also announced today that its board approved two corporate officer changes, effective immediately. Treg S. Brown was named executive vice president, mergers and acquisitions, and will continue to lead the company’s global acquisition strategy. In Brown’s 25-year career with the company, he has served as an officer in several key financial roles, including Planning and Acquisitions and Customer Financial Services, and has been instrumental in GPC’s domestic and global growth. James Neill was named executive vice president and chief human resources officer and is responsible for leading all aspects of the company’s human resources (HR) organization. Neill has devoted his entire career to the HR business field and, as an officer of the company since joining GPC in 2006, has provided exemplary leadership in the areas of talent management and employee engagement, corporate compliance, sustainability and safety.
Paul Donahue, chairman and CEO of Genuine Parts Co., commented, “We are pleased to have Treg and Jim in these new roles, as they are both talented leaders and key executives of the Company. Treg has been instrumental to GPC’s domestic and global growth for many years, and Jim has played a vital role in the evolution of our global human resources initiatives, which are ever growing. We applaud them for their impressive careers thus far and look forward to their future contributions to the Company.”
The GPC board also appointed Richard Cox, Jr. as a new independent director of the company.
Cox is chief information officer for Cox Enterprises, where he is responsible for the oversight and direction of the Corporate IT function. He has also held several leadership positions with Cox Automotive, including vice president of client performance and vice president of business operations and customer care, which included the Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book brands. Cox has also served as chief operating officer for the City of Atlanta; as CEO and President of Jones International University, and prior to that, he held key management roles with Orbitz Worldwide and Worldspan.
Donahue stated, “We are pleased to welcome Mr. Cox as our newest director. Richard is a talented executive with significant experience in information technology and the automotive business. His expertise in strategy, operations, analytics, business intelligence, security and technical services make him a valuable addition to our board. We look forward to his contributions as a director of the company.”
