The board of directors is committed to rewarding shareholders directly through cash dividends and through share repurchase authorizations. In January 2024, the board of directors increased the regular quarterly dividend to 81 cents per share, setting the stage for our 64th consecutive year of increasing cash dividends.

We have 5,651,785 shares available for purchase under our programs at June 30, 2024.

Our risk factors have not changed materially since they were described in our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed February 26, 2024. Investors should not interpret the disclosure of a risk to imply that the risk has not already materialized.

Operating through The Cincinnati Insurance Company, Cincinnati Financial Corporation is one of the 25 largest property casualty insurers in the nation, based on 2023 net written premiums for approximately 2,000 U.S. stock and mutual insurer groups.

The commercial lines underwriting expense ratio increased for the second quarter and first six months of 2024, compared with the same periods a year ago. The increases were largely due to increases in profit-sharing commissions for agencies and employee-related expenses.

The personal lines underwriting expense ratio decreased for the second quarter and first six months of 2024, compared with the same periods a year ago. The decreases were primarily due to premium growth outpacing growth in various expenses.

Our commercial lines segment's increase in agency renewal written premiums for the first six months of 2024 also included changes in the level of insured exposures. Part of the insured exposure increase reflects our response to inflation effects that increase the cost of building materials to repair damaged commercial structures. We use building valuation software to automate much of that underwriting process and may also manually adjust premiums to reflect property costs.

Elevated inflation in recent years has been a driver of higher losses and loss expenses as costs have increased significantly to repair damaged autos or other property that we insure.