Bankoh shares hit 2nd high in a week

By Deborah Adamson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Shares of Bank of Hawaii hit a 52-week high yesterday, the second time in less than a week that it has done so.

Bankoh reached a new yearly peak of $43.19 during trading, then floated down to close at $43.15, up 83 cents or 2 percent.

Shares of the bank, which did not announce any news yesterday, performed well last year. In 2003, the stock appreciated by 39 percent as earnings improved from 2002.

"It's a great way to open the year," said Al Landon, Bankoh's president and chief financial officer.

He cited Wall Street's recognition of the bank's achievements and the strengthening Hawai'i economy.

"It's probably investor expectation that it would continue in 2004," Landon said.

Yesterday's high was an encore of Dec. 31, when shares hit a peak of $42.99.

The general market also did well. The Standard & Poor's Midcap 400 Index, of which Bankoh is a component, rose by 0.8 percent yesterday to 580.61.

The new high pushed Bankoh shares' current price-to-earnings ratio, a measure of price relative to profits recorded in the past 12 months, to 21.58 yesterday. The Midcap index had a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17.

Daily volume, an indicator of investor interest, soared by 50 percent to 359,900 for Bankoh yesterday as compared to its 50-day average.

Reach Deborah Adamson at dadamson@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8088.