Cincinnati Financial Boosts Dividend

(RTTNews) - Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF) on Friday declared a $0.46 per share regular quarterly cash dividend, increasing from the previous $0.44 per share dividend paid on January 15.

The increased dividend is payable on April 15 to shareholders of record as of March 18.

At the new level, the indicated annual dividend is $1.84 per share. In 2014, cash dividends paid were $1.74 per share and dividends declared were $1.76 per share.

Steven Johnston, president and chief executive officer of Cincinnati Financial, said, "Our initiatives to steadily increase growth and improve the profitability of our insurance operations have contributed to our strong performance. As we reported in October, operating profit absent weather effects for the first nine months of 2014 exceeded the prior-year period by 6 percent. The daily commitment of our associates to build solid relationships with agents combines with our financial strength, allowing us to confidently reward shareholders now and into the future."