The board of directors of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. RNR has increased the share buyback authorization following which the company can now repurchase $500 million worth shares. The new approval includes the amount remaining under the earlier authorization. This marks the second buyback approval by the company this year. In February, the board of directors had approved a share buyback program worth $500 million.RenaissanceRe engages in share buybacks regularly. Share repurchases benefit the company’s earnings per share, book value as well as shareholder equity, as shares outstanding reduce. In the first quarter of 2016, the company spent about $85 million on buying back shares. RenaissanceRe has sufficient liquidity owing to its strong operational performance that should support more such buyback activities in the future.Concurrently, the company declared a quarterly dividend of 31 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on Jun 30 to shareholders on record as of Jun 15, 2016. XL Group has been paying dividends uninterruptedly over the last several years besides increasing the same each year by 1 cent. In fact, in February, the company raised its quarterly dividend by 3.3%. The company has maintained this trend ever since it went public in 1993. Its current dividend yield is 1.09%.RenaissanceRe has been deploying excess capital to enhance shareholders’ value over the past several quarters through repurchases and dividend hikes. Thus, this prudent capital deployment looks impressive and makes the stock an attractive pick for yield-seeking investors.Recently, the board of directors of XL Group plc XL approved a new share buyback program, authorizing the company to repurchase up to $1 billion worth shares.Stocks to ConsiderCurrently, RenaissanceRe carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks are Cincinnati Financial Corp. CINF, and Markel Corp. MKL. Each of these stocks sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report XL GROUP PLC (XL): Free Stock Analysis Report CINCINNATI FINL (CINF): Free Stock Analysis Report RENAISSANCERE (RNR): Free Stock Analysis Report MARKEL CORP (MKL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research