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Hawaiian Electric shares drop after $250M stock offering plan

Shares of Hawaiian Electric fell 9.7% today after the parent company of the state’s largest utility said it plans to sell up to $250 million worth of shares to partly fund its portion of the Maui wildfire settlement.

The company will conduct an “at-the-market offering,” selling shares at prevailing market prices rather than a predetermined rate, according to a regulatory filing.

In August, Hawaiian Electric raised going-concern doubts after disclosing it lacked a financing plan for its share of a more than $4 billion settlement to compensate victims of the 2023 Maui wildfires, which claimed over 100 lives.

The company’s shares have fallen about 23% this year, including the session’s losses, compared with S&P 500 Utilities sector’s 20.3% gain.

Lawsuits have claimed that the utility failed to shut off power lines despite warnings that high winds might blow them down and spark wildfires.

Wells Fargo, Guggenheim Securities and Barclays Capital will handle the sale. Proceeds may also fund investments in Hawaiian Electric’s units and future acquisitions.

Hawaiian Electric had about 110.3 million outstanding shares as of Aug. 30, according to the filing.

Its price-to-earnings ratio for the next 12 months, a key industry metric to gauge company valuations, is 6.15, compared to the industry median of 16.08, according to LSEG data.

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