Soft drink maker Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. said Tuesday its board has approved a plan to buy back up to $1 billion of the company's shares over the next three years.

Dr Pepper Snapple said that, in all, it has now authorized $2 billion of stock repurchases. Of this, there is $1.45 billion left outstanding.

As of May 3, the company had about 245.7 million shares outstanding, according to a regulatory filing.

In May, Dr Pepper Snapple posted a drop in its first-quarter net income, but adjusted results beat Wall Street's expectations and the company raised its earnings per share outlook for the year.

Shares of the Plano, Texas, company last traded at $38.58.