Here are St. Louis’ top (and bottom) performing stocks for 2014
(St. Louis Business Journal)
Scott Harrison, an analyst at Argent Capital Management in Clayton, which compiles the index, said Build-A-Bear benefited from management changes and a new profit strategy, and Mallinckrodt is gaining on specialty pharmaceuticals and acquisitions.
January 9, 2015 (Greg Edwards)
St. Louis company stocks were up 6 percent in 2014, well short of the performance of broader indexes, according to the equally weighted Argent St. Louis Stock Index.
The S&P 500 was up 11.4 percent as of Dec. 31; the Nasdaq was up 13.4 percent; and the Dow was up 7.5 percent.
Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. (BBW), up 166 percent, and Mallinckrodt (MNK), up 89 percent, outperformed all St. Louis company stocks, with Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) and Arch Coal Inc. (ACI), both down 60 percent, at the bottom, according to Argent’s index, which is for informational purposes only.
Other top performers: Centene Corp.(CNC), up 76 percent; SunEdison Inc. (SUNE), up 49.5 percent; Sigma Aldrich Corp. (SIAL), up 46 percent.
Other poor performers: Jacobs Engineering Group (JEC), down 29 percent; Olin Corp. (OLN), down 21 percent; and Cass Information Systems(CASS), down 21 percent.
Scott Harrison, an analyst at Argent Capital Management in Clayton, which compiles the index, said Build-A-Bear benefited from management changes and a new profit strategy, and Mallinckrodt is gaining on specialty pharmaceuticals and acquisitions. The two stocks also topped the index after the third quarter. Coal companies such as Peabody and Arch have been struggling for a couple of years.
The Argent index includes 45 companies that are based in St. Louis or have a large presence here.
