HE vs PCG: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of November 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: PCG is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. HE and PCG share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined HE and PCG exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Hawaiian Electric Industries is a Honolulu holding company whose one meaningful business is Hawaiian Electric, the regulated electric utility serving Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Hawaii Island. That footprint covers about 95% of the state's population, roughly 470,000 customer accounts, and every county except Kauai, which is served by a member-owned cooperative. The economics are unusual for a US utility: each island runs its own isolated grid with no interconnection to anything else, generation has historically leaned heavily on imported oil, and Hawaii carries the highest retail electricity rates in the country. State law requires 100% renewable electricity by 2045, so the utility's capital plan is a long grid-and-renewables buildout rather than a maintenance program. HEI is also a much simpler company than it was two years ago: it divested 90.1% of American Savings Bank at a $450 million valuation at the end of 2024, keeping a 9.9% stake, and wound down its Pacific Current infrastructure arm through 2025. Trailing twelve-month revenue is about $3.3 billion, essentially all of it regulated utility revenue.

Full HE guide

PG&E Corporation is the parent of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a regulated utility that delivers electricity and natural gas to roughly 16 million people across northern and central California. As an investor-owned utility, its rates and allowed returns are set by the California Public Utilities Commission, so its earnings are driven less by market pricing than by how much capital it invests in its system (its rate base) and the return regulators permit on that investment. That makes PG&E fundamentally different from a commodity or growth stock: the core business is stable, capital-intensive, and formula-driven.

Full PCG guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• HE drivers: A capital plan that finally grows the rate base; The 2027 rate rebasing.
• PCG drivers: Rate base growth and a large capital plan; Wildfire mitigation and undergrounding.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The obvious risk is another fire. For PCG, the dominant risk is wildfire liability.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick HE if you believe its drivers more; PCG if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the HE and PCG guides.

HE. HE screens strangely against utility peers because the usual anchors are missing: there is no dividend yield, the credit rating is below investment grade, and trailing earnings carry wildfire-related noise, now in the other direction, since the Q2 2026 remeasurement inflated GAAP profit. The trailing P/E of about 6.7 therefore overstates how cheap the shares are; on the forward estimate of about $1.02 for 2027 the multiple is closer to 8.5, and the stock trades below book value. The 52-week range of about $8.20 to $17.38 shows how large the moves on legal, financing and earnings news have been, and the analyst average target near $8.62 sits at the market price, with an underperform consensus rating. The November 13 report (consensus core EPS about $0.06) is the next data point.

PCG. Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. At about $13 a share PG&E trades near 7x analysts' forward EPS of about $1.80 and below book value, a far deeper discount than lower-risk regulated utilities carry, even though analysts still expect roughly 9-10% EPS growth in both 2026 and 2027. That discount can compress if wildfire mitigation and state policy reduce perceived risk, or widen further on a bad fire season, adverse legislation, or an equity raise to fund the capital plan.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): HE shows revenue (ttm) ~$3.3 billion, net income / eps (ttm, gaap) ~$224 million, ~$1.30 per share, lifted by a ~$154 million noncash settlement remeasurement in Q2, q2 2026 core results Core net income ~$22 million (vs ~$35 million); core EPS ~$0.13 vs ~$0.17 consensus, market cap and p/e ~$1.5 billion at ~$8.65 a share; ~6.7x trailing, ~8.5x forward earnings; PCG shows revenue (ttm) ~$25.8B, net income (ttm) ~$3.1B (~12% margin), q2 2026 eps vs estimate $0.40 vs ~$0.36, p/e (trailing / forward) ~9.5x / ~7.3x.

HE and PCG are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined HE and PCG exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.