WEC Energy (WEC) Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Miss

WEC Energy Group WEC delivered first-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings per share of $1.43, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.32 by 8.33%. The bottom line increased 7.5% from the year-ago quarter’s tally of $1.33.

Revenues

Total revenues amounted to $2,109 million, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,418 million by 12.7%. The reported figure declined 11.3% from $2,377 million in the year-ago quarter.

Highlights of the Release

Residential use of electricity in the first quarter fell 4.6% year over year. Electricity consumption by small commercial and industrial customers declined 2.6% year on year. Electricity used by large commercial and industrial customers, excluding iron ore mines, dropped 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On a weather-normal basis, retail deliveries of electricity, excluding the iron ore mine, inched down 2%.

Natural gas deliveries in Wisconsin, excluding gas used for power generation, dropped 10.6% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. On a weather-normal basis, natural gas deliveries fell 1.1%.

At the end of the first quarter, the company had an additional 10,000 electric and 12,000 natural gas customers compared with the year-ago quarter’s level.

WEC Energy Group, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

WEC Energy Group, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

WEC Energy Group, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | WEC Energy Group, Inc. Quote

 

Financial Position

As of Mar 31, 2020, WEC Energy had cash and cash equivalents of $15.4 million compared with $37.5 million as of Dec 31, 2019.

As of Mar 31, 2019, the company had long-term debt of $3,870 million, compared with $3,769.3 million as of Dec 31, 2019.

The company’s net cash provided by operating activities at the end of the first quarter was $690.5 million compared with $735.7 million at the end of the first quarter of 2019.

Capital expenditure at the end of the quarter was $496.1 million compared with $358.8 million at the end of the year-ago quarter.

Guidance

The company reaffirmed 2020 earnings per share guidance in the range of $3.71-$3.75. The midpoint of the current guidance is $3.73, which is in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Zacks Rank

WEC Energy has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Utility Releases

FirstEnergy Corporation FE delivered first-quarter 2020 operating earnings of 66 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 64 cents by 3.13%.

NextEra Energy NEE reported first-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of $2.38 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.21 by 7.7%.

CMS Energy Corporation CMS reported first-quarter 2020 adjusted EPS of 86 cents, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 77 cents by 11.7%.

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