Hawaiian Electric (NYSE:HE) stock is falling on Thursday as a new lawsuit alleges mismanagement prior to the deadly Maui wildfires.
According to this lawsuit, Hawaiian Electric failed to properly maintain power lines and equipment before the Maui fires broke out. The suits blames these years of inaction and negligence, as well as HE’s failure to shut down power as strong winds blew in, as the reason for the tragedy.
Mikal Watts, a lead attorney on the case, said the following to CNBC:
“Their own papers say they knew how to prevent it, and their own papers showed their conscious and deliberate decision to delay the implementation of safety measures that would have prevented this tragedy — the most deadly wildfire in American history.”
Adding to this, Hawaiian Electric’s credit rating was recently downgraded to “junk” by S&P Global Ratings. The firm notes that the company’s customer base was damaged by the fires, as was its reputation as lawsuits are likely to weigh on its business.
How This Affects HE Stock
With all of this negative news comes heavy trading of HE stock as investors sell shares. As of this writing, more than 13 million shares have been traded. To put that in perspective, the company’s daily average trading volume is about 1.9 million shares.
Investors will want to be wary about taking a stake in HE stock at the moment. It’s unclear how far shares will fall alongside the Maui fires controversy. If negative news persists, it could continue to weigh on the utility company’s stock.
HE stock is down 17.1% as of Thursday morning and down 71.9% since the start of the year.
Investors seeking out even more of the most recent stock market stories today will want to keep reading!
We have breakdowns of all the biggest stock market news worth reading about on Thursday! A few examples include why shares of XPeng (NYSE:XPEV), Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) and Emcore (NASDAQ:EMKR) stock are moving today. All of that news is ready to go at the links below!
More Stock Market News For Thursday
- XPEV Stock Alert: Xpeng Heats Up on Stimulus Hopes
- ADBE Stock Price Prediction: Can AI Take Adobe to $630?
- Why Is Emcore (EMKR) Stock Down 33% Today?
On the date of publication, William White did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
