Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 15,490,000 shares, an increase of 19.2% from the February 13th total of 12,990,000 shares. Currently, 9.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Hawaiian Electric Industries Price Performance

HE stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $11.11. 1,177,038 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,451,406. The company has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.94 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.01 and its 200 day moving average is $10.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18. Hawaiian Electric Industries has a 12-month low of $7.61 and a 12-month high of $18.19.

Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE:HE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $799.18 million for the quarter. Hawaiian Electric Industries had a positive return on equity of 11.12% and a negative net margin of 35.38%. On average, research analysts expect that Hawaiian Electric Industries will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hawaiian Electric Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 34.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 31,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 11,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 41,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $12.00 to $14.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Hawaiian Electric Industries from $11.50 to $10.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Hawaiian Electric Industries from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.00.

About Hawaiian Electric Industries

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the electric utility businesses in the United States. It operates in three segments: Electric Utility, Bank, and Other. The Electric Utility segment engages in the production, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai.