Short Interest in Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE) Increases By 16.1%

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,800,000 shares, a growth of 16.1% from the October 31st total of 8,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Hawaiian Electric Industries Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE HE traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $10.39. The company had a trading volume of 1,070,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,008,127. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $10.12 and a 200 day moving average of $11.16. Hawaiian Electric Industries has a 1-year low of $7.61 and a 1-year high of $18.19. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.88 and a beta of 0.53.

Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE:HE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.07). Hawaiian Electric Industries had a negative net margin of 35.38% and a positive return on equity of 11.12%. The company had revenue of $983.38 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. Hawaiian Electric Industries’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Trading of Hawaiian Electric Industries

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,059,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,638,000 after acquiring an additional 160,815 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries during the third quarter worth approximately $692,000. Seven Grand Managers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries during the third quarter worth approximately $4,888,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 23.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 638,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,756,000 after acquiring an additional 120,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fernwood Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 82.8% during the third quarter. Fernwood Investment Management LLC now owns 133,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 60,335 shares during the last quarter. 59.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HE. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries from $14.00 to $11.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

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.