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

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE) was the target of a large 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. Based on an average trading volume of 3,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days. Currently, 9.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Hawaiian Electric Industries

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HE. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Hawaiian Electric Industries by 5.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 32,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 1,775 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake 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. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries during the third quarter valued at about $2,233,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 126.1% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 4,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries during the third quarter valued at about $239,000. 59.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hawaiian Electric Industries Price Performance

NYSE:HE traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,734,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,460,918. Hawaiian Electric Industries has a 52-week low of $7.61 and a 52-week high of $18.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $9.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.17. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of -0.93 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE:HE) last announced its earnings results 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). Hawaiian Electric Industries had a positive return on equity of 11.12% and a negative net margin of 35.38%. The company had revenue of $799.18 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Hawaiian Electric Industries will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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