Cincinnati Financial (CINF) will raise its quarterly dividend by 5.0 percent to 63 cents per share in 2021. This follows a dividend hike of 7.1 percent to $0.60 per share in the first quarter of 2020. Dividend Aristocrat CINF has now raised its annual dividend for 61 consecutive years.

The dividend is payable April 15, 2021, to shareholders of record as of March 17, 2021. A new annualized dividend rate of $2.52 per share yields 2.9% at a stock price of $88 for Cincinnati Financial.

In today's press release Steven J. Johnston, president and chief executive officer, commented:  "The company remains well positioned to reward shareholders in the near term and long term, thanks to our financial strength and the successes achieved by our outstanding independent agents and our talented associates who remained focused on our key growth and profitability initiatives.

"Cincinnati Financial shareholders have consistently benefited from increased dividends in each of the past 60 years, and this board action sets the stage for continuing that record for a 61st year. The board continues to favor regular dividends as the primary means of returning capital to shareholders."

Cincinnati Financial will now pay its shareholders more than $400 million annually in dividends. The average dividend growth rate in the last five years is 5.6 percent annually if we include this new increase for 2021.

Cincinnati Financial Corporation offers business, home and auto insurance through The Cincinnati Insurance Company and its two standard market property casualty companies. The same local independent insurance agencies that market those policies may offer products of CINF's other subsidiaries, including life insurance, fixed annuities and surplus lines property and casualty insurance. The company segments are commercial lines insurance, personal lines insurance, excess and surplus lines insurance, and life insurance and investments.