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Chubb Limited (CB) Increases Dividend by 3%, Shares Gain

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In a bid to share more profit with its shareholders, the board of directors of Chubb Limited (CB - Free Report) recently announced a 3% hike in quarterly dividend to 71 cents per share. Shareholders on record as of Jun 30, will have the meatier dividend in their pockets on Jul 1, 2014. Shares gained 0.56% in the trading session on May 18, reflecting investor confidence on the stock.

The annualized dividend of $2.84 per share translates to a yield of 2% based on the closing price of $138.56 on May 18, 2017. This is above the industry average of 1.25%. Chubb has an impressive track of raising dividend each year. In fact, the company has been paying dividends each quarter since it became a public company in 1993. The latest increase marked 24th straight year of dividend hikes.

This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) property and casualty insurer has more than doubled its dividend since 2010, with its yield outperforming the industry average. Chubb intends to pay out around 30% of its operating earnings to shareholders.

Apart from dividend hikes, the company resorts to share buybacks. The company has $1 billion buyback program under its authorization. Chubb boasts a strong capital position, which helps it to engage in such shareholder-friendly moves. The company’s total capital position now exceeds $60 billion.

The company’s strategic endeavors to enhance shareholders’ value make it an attractive pick for yield seeking investors. Shares of Chubb have gained 4.35%, outperforming the Property and Casualty insurance industry’s decline of 0.13%. We believe that such moves will continue to drive shares higher.



Dividend hikes and share repurchases seem to be a well-accepted strategy among insurers to solidify investor confidence on their stock. Recently, W.R. Berkley Corporation (WRB - Free Report) approved a 7.7% hike in its quarterly dividend as well as a special dividend of 50 cents per share. Principal Financial Group, Inc. (PFG - Free Report) approved the repurchase of shares of up to $250 million. The board of directors of CNO Financial Group (CNO - Free Report) approved a 13% hike in its quarterly dividend and $300 million share buyback program.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.  

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