MILWAUKEE (AP) _ WEC Energy Group Inc. (WEC) on Monday reported first-quarter profit of $510.4 million.

The Milwaukee-based company said it had profit of $1.61 per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.47 per share.

The electricity and natural gas provider posted revenue of $2.69 billion in the period.

WEC Energy expects full-year earnings to be $3.99 to $4.03 per share.

WEC Energy shares have climbed nearly 6% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P’s 500 index has increased 11%. The stock has risen almost 10% in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on WEC at https://www.zacks.com/ap/WEC