WEC Energy's (WEC) Q1 Earnings & Revenues Beat, Rise Y/Y

WEC Energy Group WEC delivered first-quarter 2021 earnings per share of $1.61, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.47 by 9.5%. Also, the bottom line improved 12.6% from the year-ago quarter’s $1.43 per share.

Revenues

Operating revenues of $2,691.4 million topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,147 million by 25.4%. Also, the top line grew 27.6% from $2,108.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

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

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

Highlights of the Release

In the first three months of 2021, residential use of electricity rose 4.8% year over year. Electricity consumption by small commercial and industrial customers dipped 0.3% year over year. Electricity used by large commercial and industrial customers excluding iron ore mines slid 1% on a year-over-year basis. On a weather-normal basis, retail deliveries of electricity excluding the iron ore mine inched up 1.4%.

Natural gas deliveries in Wisconsin excluding gas used for power generation moved up 3.2% during the reported quarter. On a weather-normal basis, natural gas deliveries rose 0.5%.

Total operating expenses for the first quarter amounted to $2,062.1 million, up 39.1% from the year-ago quarter’s $1,482 million.

Operating income came in at $629.3 million, increasing 0.4% from the prior-year period’s $626.6 million.

At the end of first-quarter 2021, the company was serving additional 7,000 electric and 25,000 natural gas customers from the year-ago quarter's levels.

Financial Position

As of Mar 31, 2021, WEC Energy had cash and cash equivalents of $26.1 million compared with $24.8 million as of Dec 31, 2020.

As of Mar 31, 2021, the company had long-term debt of $12,317.7 million compared with $11,728.1 million on Dec 31, 2020.

The company’s net cash provided by operating activities in the first three months of 2021 was $395.2 million compared with $690.5 million in the comparable period in 2020.

Capital expenditure in the quarter was $470.6 million compared with $496.1 million in the comparable period of last year.

2021 Guidance

The company expects its current-year earnings per share to reach the higher end of the $3.99-$4.03 range. Also, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is $4.02, which is near the upper end of the utility’s current guided range.

Zacks Rank

WEC Energy has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), currently. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Other Utility Releases

American Electric Power Co., Inc. AEP reported first-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings per share of $1.15, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.23 by 6.5%.

NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE reported first-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings of 67 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 60 cents by 11.7%.

FirstEnergy Corporation FE delivered first-quarter 2021 operating earnings of 69 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 68 cents by 1.5%.

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