Hawaiian Electric Slides to 52-Week Low as Wildfire Liability Weighs on Shares

Hawaiian Electric Industries shares touched a 52-week low of $10.10 this month, a decline of roughly 16% over the past year, as the utility continues working through the financial fallout of the 2023 Lahaina wildfire. Ladenburg Thalmann initiated coverage with a Sell rating and a $7.00 price target, citing concerns over the company's return on equity and ongoing wildfire-related litigation.

The stock's slide comes alongside soft quarterly results: core earnings came in at $0.13 per share, short of the $0.19 analysts expected, while core net income fell to $22.5 million from $35.4 million a year earlier on higher operating and interest costs. Revenue for the quarter was $939.7 million.

Despite trading at under 9 times earnings, well below the sector average for utilities, the stock remains pressured by the scale of Hawaiian Electric's wildfire liabilities even as management points to progress on mitigation efforts.