For many investors in the stock market, 2023 was a good year. The S&P 500 Index finished the year with a gain of 25%.
But for some of Hawaiʻi's most widely-held stocks, the year was much more complicated. Here's a look at part of the year's local investor scorecard.
Hawaiian Electric Industries had perhaps the most volatile year of any publicly-held company based in Hawaiʻi.
For the past five years, the stock had never fallen below $30 a share.
This year it plunged from a 52-week high of nearly $44 in early February to a low of just above $9 in late August.
That last tumble was triggered by a downgrade from rating agencies and a suspension of its dividend.
HEI closed trading for the year Friday at a little more than $14.
As investigations into the Maui fires continue, Hawaiian Electric remains the target of lawsuits, including one from Maui County.
As responsibility and legal liability remain uncertain, so does the company's outlook.
The state's third-largest bank, American Savings, trades as part of its parent company — Hawaiian Electric Industries.
Matson had a fairly volatile year — in a way that investors appreciated by New Year's.
Stock in the shipping company fell to a 52-week low of about $56 in April before beginning a fairly steady climb to more than $114 in late December — closing the year with an annual gain of about 75%.
Hawaiian Airlines had its own year of volatility with its announced plans to be acquired by Alaska Airlines.
Hawaiian's parent company Hawaiian Holdings hit a 52-week low of less than $4 in late October before the deal news sent it to a late December high of nearly $15.
Alexander & Baldwin is the last publicly-held company left standing out of what once was the “Big Five” that started in sugar and spilled into the broader economy and political world.
Now a real estate investment trust, its stock traded in a much narrower range this year — from a high of about $20.50 in February to a low of about $15.50 in late October — closing the year at about $19 a share.
