Hawaiian Electric seeking expert help but ‘goal is not to restructure’ (NYSE:HE)

Hawaiian Electric (NYSE:HE) +22.1% pre-market Friday after saying in an investor update that it is seeking advice from various experts and “the goal is not to restructure the company but to endure as a financially strong utility.”

Hawaiian Electric (HE) said it has restored power to more than 80% of customers on Maui who have been without electricity since last week; 1,900 customers remain without electricity, not including an estimated 2,600 homes and businesses that were destroyed, which represent less than 1% of the company’s customers.

“Unlike in California, there is no precedent in Hawaii applying inverse condemnation to a private party like an investor-owned utility,” the company also said.

Maui Electric Co. is its own corporation, wholly owned by Hawaiian Electric (HE), but whether it is ring-fenced from the rest of the utility is “a complex legal question that will take time to work through.”

Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Underweight with an $8 price target, while warning that “more downside risk remains.”