COMMON EQUITY

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Stock-Based Compensation

During the six months ended June 30, 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)						294,990
Restricted shares (2)						108,484
Performance units						205,051

(1)Stock options awarded had a weighted-average exercise price of $84.92 and a weighted-average grant date fair value of $16.19 per option.

(2)Restricted shares awarded had a weighted-average grant date fair value of $84.97 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 and six months ended June 30, 2023.

We had the following changes to our outstanding common stock during the three and six months ended June 30, 2024:


	Three Months Ended June 30, 2024	Six Months Ended June 30, 2024
Common stock shares outstanding at beginning of period	315,822,587	315,434,531
Shares issued:
Stock-based compensation	20,488	162,666
401(k)	122,300	246,600
Stock investment plan	114,026	235,604
Common stock shares outstanding at end of period	316,079,401	316,079,401

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