Hawaiian Electric stock slides another 15% on wildfire worries

Hawaiian Electric stock took another tumble today, falling 15% after a roughly 60% drop earlier in the aftermath of the wildfire that destroyed almost all of Lahaina Aug. 8.

Shares of parent company Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. closed at $12.03, down from $14.57 on Wednesday. A day before the fire, HEI stock closed at $37.36.

Trading in the stock has been extremely heavy since Monday. Between roughly 23 million and 45 million shares have been bought and sold each day this week so far, compared with more normal daily trading volume of a few hundred thousand shares in recent weeks and months before the fire.

The company faces five lawsuits filed in state court related to the disaster, including one filed today. All the complaints allege that Hawaiian Electric is responsible for losses due to the fire based on contentions that the company’s equipment battered by storm-force winds sparked the inferno in Lahaina. More lawsuits are expected.

No cause of the fire, which has killed more than 110 people, has yet been determined.