Old Republic International Co. (NYSE:ORI) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.29 Per Share

Old Republic International Co. (NYSE:ORI) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 28th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of 0.29 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is a boost from Old Republic International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27.

Old Republic International has increased its dividend by an average of 6.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 44 years. Old Republic International has a dividend payout ratio of 30.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Old Republic International to earn $3.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.06 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.8%.

Old Republic International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORI opened at $38.49 on Friday. Old Republic International has a 1-year low of $28.59 and a 1-year high of $39.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $36.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.05.

Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.19. Old Republic International had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 10.36%. Equities analysts predict that Old Republic International will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jeffrey Lange sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total value of $40,142.88. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 34,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,267,864.24. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Carolyn Monroe sold 9,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total transaction of $333,983.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,219,760.60. This represents a 21.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Old Republic International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Old Republic International Company Profile

Old Republic International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the insurance underwriting and related services business primarily in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Title Insurance, and Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business.