Wisconsin Energy raises quarterly dividend

MILWAUKEE, Jan. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The boards of directors of Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC) and Wisconsin Electric Power Company today declared quarterly dividends.

Wisconsin Energy

The Wisconsin Energy board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 42.25 cents a share on the company's common stock, an increase of 8.3 percent over the current quarterly dividend of 39 cents a share.  This raises the annual dividend rate by 13 cents to $1.69 a share.  

The higher dividend is payable March 1, 2015, to stockholders of record on Feb. 13, 2015.  This marks the 290^th consecutive quarter – dating back to 1942 – that the company will have paid a dividend to its stockholders.

"Today's action by our board represents an important milestone in making our dividend payout more competitive with our peers across the utility industry," said Gale Klappa, chairman and chief executive officer.  

At their meeting today, the directors also reaffirmed a policy that targets a dividend payout ratio trending to 65-70 percent of earnings in 2017.

Wisconsin Electric

The Wisconsin Electric board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 90 cents a share on the Preferred Stock, 3.60% Series, payable March 1, 2015, to stockholders of record on Feb. 13, 2015.  The board also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 a share on the Six Per Cent Preferred Stock payable April 30, 2015, to stockholders of record on April 14, 2015.

Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC), based in Milwaukee, is one of the nation's premier energy companies, serving more than 1.1 million electric customers in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula and 1.1 million natural gas customers in Wisconsin. The company's principal utility is We Energies. The company's other major subsidiary, We Power, designs, builds and owns electric generating plants.

Wisconsin Energy (wisconsinenergy.com), a component of the S&P 500, has more than $15 billion of assets, 4,300 employees and approximately 40,000 stockholders of record.

Wisconsin Electric Power Co., doing business as We Energies, is a subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy Corporation.  The company serves more than 1.1 million electric customers in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula and more than 460,000 natural gas customers in Wisconsin. Visit the We Energies website at we-energies.com.

SOURCE Wisconsin Energy Corporation

Related Links

http://www.wisconsinenergy.com