Wisconsin Energy Announces Plan to Raise Quarterly Dividend

Published on Thursday, 01 December 2011 15:18 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

MILWAUKEE, Dec. 1, 2011  /PRNewswire/ -- The board of directors of Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC) today announced that it is planning to raise the quarterly dividend to 30 cents a share on the company's common stock in the first quarter of 2012. This would represent an increase of 4 cents a share over the current quarterly rate. 

The directors expect to declare the new dividend at their regularly scheduled meeting in January. The dividend – which would be equivalent to an annual rate of $1.20 a share – is expected to be payable March 1, 2012, to stockholders of record on Feb. 14, 2012.

"We're continuing to target a dividend payout ratio of 60 percent of earnings in 2015 as we strive to make our dividend policy more competitive with our peers across the utility industry," said Gale Klappa, chairman, president and chief executive officer.  "The board's plan for 2012 would mark a significant step toward that goal."

The company also reaffirmed that it expects 2011 earnings to be in a range of $2.13 to $2.16 a share. 

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 more than 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 Corporation (wisconsinenergy.com), a component of the S&P 500, has more than $13 billion of assets, approximately 4,600 employees and over 43,000 registered stockholders.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  These statements are based upon management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the statements.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements.  Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning management's expectations and projections regarding earnings, dividend payments and other matters.  In some cases, forward-looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "guidance," "intends," "may," "objectives," "plans" "possible," "potential," "projects," "should" or similar terms or variations of these terms.

Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in forward-looking statements.  In addition to the assumptions and other factors referred to specifically in connection with these statements, factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in any forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions; business, competitive and regulatory conditions in the consolidating energy industry; varying weather conditions; catastrophic weather-related or terrorism-related damage; availability of electric generating facilities; unanticipated changes in purchased power costs; unanticipated changes in coal or natural gas prices and supply and transportation availability; the ability to recover fuel and purchased power costs; nonperformance by purchased power or natural gas suppliers under existing contracts; environmental incidents; key personnel changes; inflation rates; customer growth and declines; customer business conditions, including demand for their products and services; energy conservation efforts; timing, resolution and impact of pending and future rate cases and other regulatory decisions; construction risks; changes in the interpretation or enforcement of permit conditions by permitting agencies; restrictions imposed by financing arrangements and regulatory requirements on the ability of the company's subsidiaries to transfer funds to it in the form of cash dividends, loans or advances; current and future litigation, regulatory investigations, proceedings or inquiries, including the pending lawsuit against the Wisconsin Energy Corporation Retirement Account Plan, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission matters, and Internal Revenue Service audits and other tax matters; the impact of recent and future federal, state and local legislative and regulatory changes; equity and bond market fluctuations and events in the global credit markets that may affect the availability and cost of capital; the investment performance of the company's pension and other post-retirement benefit trusts; the financial performance of the American Transmission Company; foreign, governmental, economic, political and currency risks; and other factors described under the heading "Factors Affecting Results, Liquidity and Capital Resources" in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and under the headings "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" contained in the company's Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010 and in subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company expressly disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Wisconsin Energy Corporation