Mississippi-based companies make strides on Wall Street

MISSISSIPPI - Mississippi-based companies have made strides on Wall Street in the past five years.

Sixteen of the 19 publicly held companies based in Mississippi have outperformed the S&P 500 in price appreciation since 2000. The S&P 500, a stock index of 500 companies selected by Standard & Poor's to represent the brightest and best of the American economy, is used by investment advisers and mutual funds as a benchmark.

Poultry producer Sanderson Farms led Mississippi-based stocks with an increase of 675 percent in stock price appreciation from March 9, 2000, to March 9, 2005.

If Sanderson Farms had been in the S&P 500 Index, it would have been ranked No. 4 out of 500 for that five-year stretch in price appreciation, Ashby Foote, president of Vector Money Management in Jackson.

Mike Cockrell, chief financial officer at Laurel-based Sanderson Farms, said the company has had two consecutive years of record earnings.

"The company is operated well relative to its peers in the industry, and we've had a positive environment in which to operate," he said. "The price of chicken has been positive."

Source AP via Sunherald

17 March 2005