HP hikes quarterly shareholder payout 10 pct

PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Personal computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. says its will raise the quarterly dividend it pays shareholders by about a penny to 14.5 cents per share.

The Palo Alto, Calif., company says the 10 percent increase in its payout will be effective when its board declares the next dividend, which likely will happen in May. HP is paying a dividend of 13.2 cents per share on April 3 to shareholders of record on March 13.

The company has about 2 billion shares of common stock outstanding.

HP on Wednesday barely rebuffed a shareholder rebellion over company struggles. Its two longest-serving directors, John Hammergren and G. Kennedy Thompson, both were re-elected by unusually narrow margins during HP's annual shareholder meeting. The results were based on preliminary tallies that must be certified.