After Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd's (ASX: CCL) well publicised slump last year, I bought shares in the company, along with a number of other Foolish contributors who thought the situation was salvageable.
The subsequent strategic review ticked a number of boxes for me, and I felt the company was heading in the right direction – encouraging me to hold my shares and suggesting readers take a closer look at the stock.
In fact fellow contributor Ryan Newman and myself both picked Coca-Cola as our Top Stock for November 2014.
Just yesterday I received CCL's final dividend payment for the year of 22 cents per share, taking the total payment to 42 cents, or approximately 4.5% of the purchase price.
At today's price of $10.80, Coca-Cola still offers a 4.1% yield with 75% franking, and I suspect it won't be too long before the company's share price starts to rise again, spurred by yield-hungry investors and those returning to the company after realising the opportunities on offer.
Managing Director Alison Watkins informed the market back February that Coca-Cola should return to growth this year, and deliver sustainable returns to shareholders over the next few years.
There are still a number of headwinds facing the company; namely the difficulties of doing business in Indonesia, competition with Pepsi and other drinks companies, and the apparent inability to command a price for its goods in the face of retailer pressure from Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)-owned supermarkets.
I am also wary about Coca-Cola's strategy of going the 'premium' route with its pricing (charging more than comparable alternative soft-drinks) and focusing on new products like Coke Life and Coke in smaller tins.
However with sizeable cost savings set to filter through to products, rejuvenated Indonesian operations and a renewed focus on marketing – not to mention a growing appetite for dividends – I believe that Coca-Cola Amatil is well positioned to grow its earnings and dividends in the next few years.
