Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE) Short Interest Up 19.2% in February

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

Hawaiian Electric Industries Price Performance

HE traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.02. 1,839,661 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,461,081. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.93 and a beta of 0.46. Hawaiian Electric Industries has a 52-week low of $7.61 and a 52-week high of $18.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.17.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hawaiian Electric Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,231,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $177,397,000 after buying an additional 1,112,150 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 15,202,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $147,921,000 after buying an additional 202,552 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $115,010,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 7,986.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,340,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,698,000 after buying an additional 5,274,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,925,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,208,000 after buying an additional 132,740 shares in the last quarter. 59.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Hawaiian Electric Industries Company Profile

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.