Industry Stocks: January Performances
by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 2/9/2004
| Company | December 31 | January 30 | % CHANGE |
| Winners | |||
| Thomas Nelson | 19.33 | 24.99 | 29.3% |
| Banta Corp. | 40.50 | 46.00 | 13.6 |
| Hastings Entertainment | 4.23 | 4.75 | 12.3 |
| Marvel Enterprises | 28.99 | 32.23 | 11.2 |
| Courier Corp. | 38.47 | 42.35 | 10.1 |
| Losers | |||
| Advanced Marketing Srves. | 11.40 | 10.56 | -7.4% |
| Scholastic | 34.04 | 32.10 | -5.7 |
| Reader's Digest | 14.66 | 13.86 | -5.4 |
| Educational Development Corp. | 11.03 | 10.50 | -4.8 |
| Publishers Weekly | |||
| Stock Index | 522.00 | 542.17 | 3.9% |
| Dow Jones Average | 10,453.92 | 10,488.07 | 0.3% |
| The Publishers Weekly Stock Index rose 3.9% in January, easily beating the gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which inched up 0.3%. The stock prices of 14 companies on the PWSI rose in the month, with prices falling at seven. The big winner in January was Thomas Nelson, whose stock price jumped 29.3% as investors continue to believe that the religion book publisher will continue to post improved results. Among those buying Nelson stock is Gabelli Asset Management, which has been steadily acquiring shares since December. An encouraging fourth quarter/year-end report from Banta helped to boost its stock price 13.6% in January. A new addition to the PWSI, Marvel Enterprises, had a stock price increase of 11.2% due in part to its growing publishing program, which includes graphic novels. The biggest loser in the month was Advanced Marketing Services, whose stock price fell 7.4%. Although AMS announced that it was restating its results as part of an effort to be able to release its first and second quarterly reports, it remains unclear when the company may actually release the figures. SOURCE: REED BUSINESS INFORMATION | |||
