WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) 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 (NYSE:NEE), 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 (NYSE:FE) 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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