Old Republic International Corporation (ORI) will raise its quarterly dividend by 2.6 percent to $0.20 per share in the first quarter of 2019. This will mark the 38th consecutive year of annual dividend increases by the insurance holding company.

The next dividend is payable March 15, 2019 to shareholders of record on March 5, 2019. A new annual rate of 80 cents per share yields 3.8% at a stock price of $21 for ORI.

This latest dividend increase marks the 38th consecutive year that Old Republic has boosted its cash dividend rate, and 2019 becomes the 78th year of uninterrupted cash dividend payments, according to the company in today’s press release.

Chicago-based Old Republic International Corporation is an insurance holding company. Old Republic is primarily a commercial lines underwriter serving the insurance needs of a large number of organizations, including many of America’s leading industrial and financial services institutions. Its subsidiaries actively market, underwrite, and provide risk management services for a wide variety of coverages, mostly in the general and title insurance fields. Old Republic has paid a cash dividend without interruption since the World War II year of 1942. The company traces its beginnings to 1923, although several acquired subsidiaries began operations much earlier.