Yahoo News WEC Energy (WEC) Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Miss
WEC Energy Group WEC delivered second-quarter 2020 earnings per share of 76 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 69 cents by 10.1%. The bottom line also improved 2.7% from the year-ago quarter’s 74 cents per share. This year-over-year outperformance was led by operational efficiency and the warmer-than-normal weather that perked up residential demand for energy.
Revenues
Total revenues of $1,548.7 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,603 million by 3.4%. The top line also declined 2.6% from $1,590.2 million in the year-ago quarter.
Highlights of the Release
Residential use of electricity in the second quarter rose 17.1% year over year. Electricity consumption by small commercial and industrial customers declined 8.6% year over year. Electricity used by large commercial and industrial customers excluding iron ore mines dropped 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On a weather-normal basis, retail deliveries of electricity excluding the iron ore mine moved down 6.9%.
Natural gas deliveries in Wisconsin excluding gas used for power generation slid 5.5% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. On a weather-normal basis, natural gas deliveries fell 7.2%.
Total operating expenses for the second quarter amounted to $1,209.9 million, indicating a 5.2% decline from the year ago quarter’s $1,275.6 million.
Operating income came in at $338.8 million, increasing 7.7% from the prior-year period’s $314.6 million.
At the end of the second quarter, the company had an additional 11,000 electric and 27,000 natural gas customers compared with the respective year-ago quarter’s levels.
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 Jun 30, 2020, WEC Energy had cash and cash equivalents of $13.3 million compared with $37.5 million as of Dec 31, 2019.
As of Jun 30, 2020, the company had long-term debt of $10,721.6 million compared with $11,211 million as of Dec 31, 2019.
The company’s net cash provided by operating activities at the end of the first half of 2020 was $1,379.6 million compared with $1,291.2 million at the end of the comparable period of 2019.
Capital expenditure at the end of the first six months of this year was $1,037.2 million compared with $855.2 million at the end of the year-ago period.
2020 Guidance
The company reaffirmed full-year earnings per share projection in the range of $3.71-$3.75. The upper end of this current guided range is in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Zacks Rank
WEC Energy has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), currently. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Recent Utility Releases
FirstEnergy Corporation FE delivered second-quarter 2020 operating earnings of 57 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 55 cents by 3.64%.
NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE reported second-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of $2.61 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.50 by 4.4%.
CMS Energy Corporation CMS reported second-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings per share of 49 cents, which exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 45 cents by 8.9%.
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