COMMON EQUITY

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Stock-Based Compensation

During the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors awarded the following stock-based compensation to our directors, officers, and certain other key employees:


Award Type						Number of Awards
Stock options (1)						283,869
Restricted shares (2)						105,778
Performance units						196,256

(1)Stock options awarded had a weighted-average exercise price of $85.05 and a weighted-average grant date fair value of $16.20 per option.

(2)Restricted shares awarded had a weighted-average grant date fair value of $85.05 per share.

Restrictions

Our ability as a holding company to pay common stock dividends primarily depends on the availability of funds received from our utility subsidiaries, We Power, Bluewater, ATC Holding LLC (which holds our ownership interest in ATC), and WECI. Various financing arrangements and regulatory requirements impose certain restrictions on the ability of our subsidiaries to transfer funds to us in the form of cash dividends, loans, or advances. Our utility subsidiaries, with the exception of UMERC and MGU, are prohibited from loaning funds to us, either directly or indirectly. See Note 11, Common Equity, in our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information on these and other restrictions.

We do not believe that these restrictions will materially affect our operations or limit any dividend payments in the foreseeable future.

Common Stock

As of January 1, 2024, we began issuing new shares of common stock to fulfill our obligations under various stock-based employee benefit and compensations plans and to provide shares to participants in our dividend reinvestment and stock purchase plan. During 2023, we instructed our independent agents to purchase shares on the open market to fulfill obligations under these plans. As such, no new shares of common stock were issued during the three months ended March 31, 2023.

We had the following changes to our outstanding common stock during the three months ended March 31, 2024:


Common stock shares outstanding at beginning of period						315,434,531
Shares issued:
Stock-based compensation						142,178
401(k)						124,300
Stock investment plan						121,578
Common stock shares outstanding at end of period						315,822,587

On April 18, 2024, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.835 per share, payable on June 1, 2024, to shareholders of record on May 14, 2024.