American Electric Power Co., Inc. (NYSE:AEP) reported first-quarter 2017 operating earnings per share (EPS) of 96 cents, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 97 cents by 1%.
Earnings also dropped 5.9% year over year owing to warmer-than-normal winter weather conditions.
Total Revenue
American Electric’s first-quarter revenues of $3,936.2 million fell 2.7% from $4,044.9 million in the year-ago quarter. The reported figure however exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,874.4 million.
American Electric Power Company, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
American Electric Power Company, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | American Electric Power Company, Inc. Quote
Quarterly Highlights
Operating expenses incurred in the reported quarter were $1,646.3 million, compared with $1,745 million a year ago.
Operating income in first-quarter 2017 was $884.7 million, down 1% from $892.9 million a year ago.
Segmental Performance
Vertically Integrated Utility Operations: Operating earnings in the quarter declined to $219.5 million from $277.6 million a year ago.
Transmission & Distribution Utilities: Operating earnings were $119.1 million in the quarter, up from $107.5 million a year ago.
AEP Transmission Holdco: This segment generated an operating income of $71.8 million, up from $43.9 million recorded in the first quarter of 2016.
Generation and Marketing: Operating earnings were $68.3 million, down from $70.7 million in the first quarter of 2016.
Financial Update
As of Mar 31, 2017, American Electric had $175 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared with $210.5 million as of Dec 31, 2016.
Long-term debt was $19.24 billion as of Mar 31, 2017, compared with $20.26 billion as of Dec 31, 2016.
Cash flow from operations was $806.8 million in the first quarter of 2017, compared with $799.9 million in the prior year quarter.
Guidance
American Electric reaffirmed its 2017 operating earnings guidance at the range of $3.55–$3.75.
Peer Earnings Review
DTE Energy Company (NYSE:DTE) reported first-quarter 2017 operating earnings per share of $1.79, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.57 by 14%. Total revenue came in at $3.24 billion, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.58 billion by 25.6%
Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) reported first-quarter 2017 operational earnings of 99 cents per share, lagging the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.06 by 6.6%. It reported total revenue of $2,588.5 million, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,566 million by 0.9%.
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) reported first-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings of $1.75 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.56 by 12.2%. Operating revenues totaled $3,972 million that surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,943 million by nearly 0.7%.
Zacks Rank
American Electric currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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