Oklahoma companies split gains and losses
A small majority of Oklahoma companies closed the quarter on a positive note Friday.
Seventeen companies posted positive gains compared to the second quarter, while 15 lost value. LSB Industries Inc., Paycom Software, and Matrix Service Co. showed the strongest growth, while Blueknight Energy Partners, SandRidge Energy, and Educational Development Corp. posted the worst losses.
The overall growth came as no surprise to Tulsa money manager Jake Dollarhide, who said Oklahoma reflected national trends.
“It’s been a strong year for the stock market, it’s no surprise,” said Dollarhide, president of Longbow Asset Management Co.
Growth markets
Both the technology industry and the oil and gas industry have shown signs of growth, according to Dollarhide, and several Oklahoma companies fall in these categories.
“It’s been a year dominated by tech,” Dollarhide said. “Right here in Oklahoma City we’ve got Paycom. They’re our representative to Silicon Valley and they’re such a highflying stock.”
Paycom finished runnerup for highest percent gain, though its stock closed at the highest price of $155.41. This was $56.58 more than the last quarter, a change of 57 percent.
Matrix Service Co. finished third, closing at $24.65, up $6.30 since last quarter for a 34 percent increase.
“Matrix had been down because of the oil and gas industry had been down,” Dollarhide said. “The customers they serve had been on down
times so they suffered, but as their customers' plight has improved so too has their stock.”
Neither company could beat the percent change shown by LSB Industries Inc. The company closed at $9.78, up $4.48 from the last quarter for an 84 percent increase.
Loss leaders
While the oil and gas industry is showing signs of improvement, several Oklahoma companies posted decreased values this quarter compared to last. Among them are Enable Midstream Partners, Devon Energy Corp. and Chesapeake Energy Corp.
However, the greatest losses among the Oklahoma oil and gas companies were recorded by Blueknight Energy Partners and SandRidge Energy Inc.
“It just proves a rising tide does not lift all boats,” Dollarhide said. “There’s been an amazing recovery in the oil and gas industry all year. The ones that are negative tend to be the more highly leveraged.”
Blueknight stock closed at $2.10 a share Friday, a loss of $1.30 from the past quarter and a negative 38 percent change.
“It’s just been a downward trend all quarter,” Dollarhide said. “They’ve had just a bad quarter. Sometimes when a stock is low, people just consider it’s a dead stock just because it’s low.”
SandRidge closed at $10.87 a share, a loss of $6.87 per share for a negative 38.7 percent change.
The worst percent change for the quarter
belongs to Educational Development Corp., which showed a negative 38.9 percent change after closing at $11.45 per share, a loss of $7.30 on the quarter.
“Educational Development Corp. has been on the winning side of this list a lot more than not the last several years,” Dollarhide said. “One of their bragging points are that they don’t distribute through Amazon.com, and that’s a great story to tell when your stock is climbing higher, but it might not be a great thing if your stock isn’t. It may just be a natural pullback."
End of an era
The sale of Sonic Corp. last week caused a late spike in stock prices, which almost led the drive-in chain to crack the top three. Sonic was acquired by the privately held Inspire Brands Inc., which means this could be one of the last quarters the stock is publicly traded, Dollarhide said.
Sonic shares closed at $43.34, an increase of $8.92, or 26 percent.
“What exciting news for Sonic and it’s future endeavors,” Dollarhide said. “It benefited all Sonic shareholders. They’re getting quite a premium.”
Future outlook
The continued improvement of the oil and gas industry leads Dollarhide to an optimistic outlook for many publicly traded Oklahoma companies.
“A lot of our talent, a lot of our natural resources, are locked into oil and gas, for better or worse,” Dollarhide said. “The recent renaissance for oil and gas bodes favorably for Oklahoma.”