Florida financials
State’s top 50 index shows jump in values
The index of the state’s top 50 stocks outperformed the S&P 500 from April to June.
Local investors don’t have to look far for top-performing stocks this quarter.
The index of Florida’s top 50 stocks, considered a barometer of the state’s economy, outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 from April to June, according to University of Miami’s quarterly index report.
The Florida index gained 7.2 percent, beating the S&P 500 by 4.63 percent and the S&P 1500 by 4.74 percent.
For the year-to-date, the Florida stocks are up 18.33 percent, compared with 8.24 percent for the S&P 500 and 7.81 percent for the S&P1500.
The top 10 performing stocks were: PetMed Express, up nearly 103 percent; ILG, up nearly 32 percent; WellCare Health Plans, up 28 percent; Office Depot, up 21 percent; Marriott Vacations Worldwide, up nearly 19 percent; CSX Corp., up nearly 18 percent; Rayonier Advanced Materials, up nearly 17 percent; Parkway, up 16 percent; and Sykes Enterprises, up 14 percent.
Of those, two are located in South Florida: PetMed Express, a pet pharmacy also known as 1-800-PetMeds, is based in Delray Beach; and Office Depot, the officeretailer is headquartered in Boca Raton.
PetMed Express has a 52-week price range of $18.67 to $41.73, and Office Depot’s 52-week range is $3.01 to $5.76, according to Bloomberg.
Contributing to the Florida index’s outperformance of the S&P 500 over the first two quarters were gains by several companies, said Seth Levine, an accounting lecturer at the University of Miami School of Business Administration. They were: Florida Power & Light’s parent company, NextEra Energy, based in Jupiter; railroad conglomerate CSX Industries in Jacksonville; cruise companies Carnival and Royal Caribbean in Miami, Darden Restaurants in Orlando; and real estate company Lennar in Miami.
The 12 largest companies in the Florida 50 Index have a combined market capitalization of almost $300 billion, he said.
“Tenof these12companieshave boasted double-digit returns yearto-date, with seven of the 12 boasting returns of more than 20 percent,” Levine said.
TheUniversity of Miami’s Florida 50 Index, which was established by the School of Business Administration in2016, is basedon the capitalizations of all Floridabased large-, mid- and small-cap companies included in the S&P 1500 index that have common stock listedon theNewYork Stock Exchange orNasdaq.
The index is available under the ticker symbol UMIAMIFL through the S&P website at: umiamifl.
While the top 50 Florida stocks performed well this quarter, investors are advised to consider a number of factors, including their investment goals and risk tolerance, before making any investment, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates public companies.