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Evergy (EVRG) Tops Q4 Earnings Estimates, Ups Capex Spending

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Evergy, Inc. (EVRG - Free Report) reported fourth-quarter 2020 operating earnings of 28 cents per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 20 cents by 40%. The reported earnings, however, were down 12.5% year over year due to lower retail sales, thanks to unfavorable weather and reduction in demand due to the pandemic.

GAAP earnings for the reported quarter were 22 cents compared with 28 cents per share in the year-ago period.

Total Revenues

Evergy’s total revenues came in at $1,094.4 million, reflecting a decline of 3.3% from the year-ago-quarter’s $1,131.6 million.

Evergy Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Evergy Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Evergy Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Evergy Inc. Quote

Highlights of the Release

Total operating expenses were $941.4 million, down 2.5% from the year-ago quarter’s $965.8 million owing to lower fuel and purchased power, along with a decline in operating and maintenance costs.

Interest expenses for the reported quarter were $93.4 million, down 3.4% from the year-ago level.

Financial Update

Cash and cash equivalents as of Dec 31, 2020 were $144.9 million compared with $23.2 million at 2019-end.

Long-term debt as of Dec 31, 2020 was $9,190.9 million compared with $8,746.7 million at 2019-end.

Cash from operating activities for 2020 was $1,753.8 million compared with $1,749 million in 2019.

Guidance

Evergy issued its 2021 operating earnings per share guidance in the range of $3.20-$3.40, which does not reflect the expected positive impact of power marketing activities during the February extreme weather event.

Evergy has updated five-year (2021-2025) capital plan to $9.2 billion, up from the previous guidance of $8.9 billion for the 2020-2024 time frame. The expenditures will be directed toward utility projects, with an objective of modernizing the grid, and increasing efficiency as well as reliability of operations.

Zacks Rank

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

Recent Releases

Exelon Corporation’s (EXC - Free Report) fourth-quarter 2020 operating earnings of 76 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 71 cents by 7%.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE - Free Report) reported fourth-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of 40 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 39 cents by 2.6%.

Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL - Free Report) posted fourth-quarter 2020 operating earnings of 54 cents per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

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