Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE) Short Interest Down 43.4% in April

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,160,000 shares, a decrease of 43.4% from the March 31st total of 17,960,000 shares. Approximately 5.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,750,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,231,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $177,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112,150 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings 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 valued at $147,921,000 after buying an additional 202,552 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries during the fourth quarter worth $115,010,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Hawaiian Electric Industries by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,925,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,208,000 after acquiring an additional 132,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hawaiian Electric Industries by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,471,522 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,778,000 after purchasing an additional 449,873 shares during the period. 59.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hawaiian Electric Industries Stock Performance

Shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $10.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 459,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,738,480. Hawaiian Electric Industries has a one year low of $7.61 and a one year high of $18.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.87 and a beta of 0.51. The business's fifty day moving average price is $10.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.13.

Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE:HE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hawaiian Electric Industries will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HE. Barclays lifted their price target on Hawaiian Electric Industries from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut Hawaiian Electric Industries from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on 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. Evercore ISI raised Hawaiian Electric Industries from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $12.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.