NC stocks rose faster than overall market in 2014

Shares of the 50 largest publicly traded companies headquartered in North Carolina rose faster than the stock market as a whole in 2014, driven in part by a resurgence in mergers and acquisitions that boosted prices of some of the state’s most prominent companies.

Of the state’s 50 largest public companies, 39 ended 2014 with a higher stock price than they had at the end of 2013. Some of the best-performing stocks were companies involved in mergers and acquisitions, in a year when corporate buyouts and combinations increased to their highest level since the recession.

Shares in Family Dollar jumped 22 percent for the year, compared with 2 percent in 2013, as rivals Dollar Tree and Dollar General vied to buy the Matthews-based retailer. The potential acquirers offered prices higher than Family Dollar’s share price at midyear, as they sought to win over shareholders. Family Dollar shareholders are set to vote on Dollar Tree’s offer at a special meeting Jan. 22.

Charlotte-based Chiquita Brands International’s stock rose 24 percent for the year. In October, Chiquita agreed to be purchased by two Brazilian firms for about $680 million in cash, or $14.50 a share. Cutrale and the Safra Group expect to complete the acquisition early in 2015. The Brazilian companies haven’t said where Chiquita’s headquarters will be located.

Measured like an index, shares of North Carolina’s 50 largest public companies rose 15 percent. Looked at a slightly different way, if you had put $100 into each stock at the beginning of the year, you would have earned an almost 17 percent return, not including dividends.

And for the second year running, North Carolina stocks outpaced major indexes, which continued their upward march. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose almost 8 percent in 2014, smashing the 17,000-point barrier for the first time and briefly breaking through 18,000 points. The S&P 500, a broader measure, cracked 2,000 points and gained 11 percent.

Despite their increase, North Carolina stocks rose at a slower clip than the whopping 28 percent index gain and 44 percent return that North Carolina’s 50 largest public companies posted in 2013.

“We’ve seen a little bit of volatility since October,” said Judson Gee, Charlotte-based managing partner of JHG Financial Advisors. “Definitely not as bad as 2011, when the market was really whipsawing.”

Although most of the state’s companies saw gains, they weren’t distributed evenly. Financial companies saw positive returns, but they were outpaced by energy, apparel and retail stocks, which benefited from rising consumer confidence and an improving economy. Some companies that debuted last year with initial public stock offerings saw their shares fall after an initial surge.

To be sure, a company’s stock is just one limited measure of its performance, and nobody invests in a stock portfolio based on where the companies in it are headquartered. But the price appreciation of North Carolina companies gives a window into how investors viewed those companies in 2014.

Here’s a look at how some of the state’s biggest companies fared in the stock market.

Mergers and acquisitions

In addition to Family Dollar and Chiquita, some other well-known companies in North Carolina also became merger and acquisition targets in 2014, boosting their stock prices as acquirers paid shareholders a premium.

Financial firms

Utility companies

Apparel and retail stocks

Post-IPO blues

Some companies that went public for the first time in 2013 saw their stocks fall in 2014. (Companies that held an initial public offering this year weren’t included in this analysis.)

This story was originally published December 31, 2014 at 7:50 PM.