Yahoo Finance Xcel Energy (XEL) Q3 Earnings & Revenues Beat Estimates
Xcel Energy Inc. XEL posted third-quarter 2020 operating earnings of $1.14 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.08 by 5.6%. The bottom line also improved 12.9% from the year-ago earnings of $1.01 per share.
Customer growth and cost-management efforts boosted Xcel Energy’s performance on a year-over-year basis.
Total Revenues
Xcel Energy’s third-quarter revenues of $3,182 million outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,167 million by 0.5%. Also, the top line improved 5.6% from the prior-year quarter’s $3,013 million. This upside was owing to mainly higher contribution from the electric segment than the prior-year quarter.
Xcel Energy Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Xcel Energy Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Xcel Energy Inc. Quote
Segmental Results
Electric: Revenues rose 6.1% to $2,941 million from $2,771 million in the year-ago quarter.
Natural Gas: Revenues fell 1.4% from the year-ago quarter’s $222 million to $219 million.
Other: Revenues in the segment increased 10% to $22 million from the year-ago quarter’s $20 million.
Quarterly Highlights
Total operating expenses increased 5.1% year over year to $2,369 million, primarily due to higher electric fuel and purchased power expenses.
Operating income in the reported quarter improved 7.3% from the prior-year quarter to $813 million.
Total interest charges and financing costs in the reported quarter rose 9.4% from the prior-year figure to $210 million.
Looking Ahead
Xcel Energy narrowed its 2020 earnings per share (EPS) guidance to $2.75-$2.81 from the range of $2.73-$2.83 per share. Also, the utility provided 2021 EPS guidance in the range of $2.90-$3. The company expects to deliver long-term annual EPS growth of 5-7% based on the 2020 expected figure of $2.78 per share, which represents the mid-point of the current-year guidedrange.
Xcel Energy projects an annual dividend rate hike of 5-7% and targets a payout ratio of 60-70%.
Zacks Rank
Xcel Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Utility Releases
NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE reported third-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of $2.66 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.65 by 0.4%.
Edison International EIX reported third-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of $1.67 per share, which exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.44 by 16%.
DTE Energy Company DTE reported third-quarter 2020 operating EPS of $2.61, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.06 by 26.7%.
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