A Lancaster, Pa.-based casualty insurer paid a 7-cent quarterly cash dividend.

Eastern Insurance Holdings’s board of directors authorized the payment on its issued and outstanding shares of common stock, payable June 26, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 12.

EIHI is the parent company of Eastern Life and Health Insurance Co., which converted from mutual to stock form on June 16, 2006. The Pennsylvania Insurance Department’s order approving the conversion prohibits both ELH and EIHI from making any distribution to shareholders without prior Pennsylvania Insurance Department approval for a period of three years.

EIHI sought and received Pennsylvania Insurance Department approval for the quarterly dividend. The provision within the Pennsylvania Insurance Department’s order requiring approval for ELH and EIHI prior to any shareholder distributions expires June 16.

EIHI operates through its subsidiaries a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers’ compensation, a domestic accident and life insurance company, a third-party claims administration company and a specialty reinsurance company. EIHI also has regional offices in Charlotte, N.C., and Indianapolis, Ind.