(Bloomberg) -- Fund managers have stepped up purchases of some Japanese defense stocks ahead of a snap election called by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid increased tension with North Korea.
BlackRock Inc. disclosed Thursday that it has raised its holding in Ishikawa Seisakusho Ltd., a mine maker, to 8.75 percent, and revealed a 6.61 percent stake in Howa Machinery Ltd., a producer of firearms. Fund managers have been buying larger defense names as well, such as IHI Corp. and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.
Ishikawa has seen its stock surge six-fold in 2017, partly fueled by individual investors buying the shares. BlackRock couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Investor | Target | Latest change | Current stake |
|---|---|---|---|
| BlackRock | Ishikawa Seisakusho | Bought 216,300 shares | 8.75% |
| BlackRock | Howa Machinery | Bought 829,100 shares | 6.61% |
| BlackRock | Kawasaki Heavy | Bought 7,600 shares | 6.07% |
| BlackRock | IHI | Bought 647,497 shares | 5.96% |
| Daiwa Securities | Kawasaki Heavy | Bought 191,600 shares | 1.01% |
| Nikko AM | Kawasaki Heavy | Bought 11,300 shares | 1.01% |
| Nikko AM | IHI | Bought 11,900 shares | 0.96% |
| Nomura AM | Ishikawa Seisakusho | Bought 3,600 shares | 1.01% |
| Nomura AM | Howa Machinery | Bought 7,900 shares | 1.24% |
| Nomura AM | Kawasaki Heavy | Bought 107,000 shares | 2.21% |
| Nomura AM | IHI | Bought 30,319 shares | 2.01% |
| State Street | IHI | Bought 1.32m shares | 5.62% |
| State Street | Shinmaywa Industries | Bought 412,000 shares | 2.51% |
(Bloomberg data on transactions over Sept. 29-Oct. 5)
--With assistance from Min Jeong Lee
To contact the reporter on this story: Kurt Schussler in Tokyo at kschussler1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Ravil Shirodkar
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
