Industry Stocks: May Performances
Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 6/11/2001
| Company | April 30 | May 31 | % CHANGE |
| Winners | |||
| Houghton Mifflin | 45.51 | 54.56 | 20.0% |
| R.R. Donnelley | 27.84 | 30.30 | 8.8 |
| John Wiley | 18.65 | 20.20 | 8.3 |
| Banta Corp. | 26.10 | 28.00 | 7.3 |
| Amazon.com | 15.78 | 16.69 | 5.8 |
| Losers | |||
| Company | April 30 | May 31 | % CHANGE |
| Hungry Minds | 7.40 | 6.41 | -13.4% |
| Pearson | 21.25 | 18.80 | -11.5 |
| Scholastic | 41.74 | 39.95 | -4.3 |
| Borders Group | 18.60 | 18.27 | -1.8 |
| Publishers Weekly | |||
| Stock Index * | 432.83 | 438.45 | 3.2% |
| Dow Jones Average | 10,734.97 | 10,911.94 | 1.6% |
| * May 31 PWSI total is after AMS 3-for-2 stock split. Hungry Minds' stock price fell 13.4% in May, dragged down by its poor financial performance. Although the company had announced several months ago that it expects a difficult year, investors kept the stock price up because of the likelihood of the sale of the company, and while a sale seems certain, investors appear to be questioning what Hungry Minds is worth. The sale of the company played a major role in driving up Houghton Miffin's stock price by 20% in May; although Vivendi's $60 per share purchase of the company wasn't announced until June 1, speculation about a possible deal for HM was reason enough for investors to take a position in the company. Overall, the Publishers Weekly Stock Index increased 3.2% in May, doubling the 1.6% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Fifteen companies had an increase in their stock price in the month, while seven companies had a decline. During May, Advanced Marketing Services had its third 3-for-2 stock split in three years and also raised its dividend 15%. Source: Cahners Publishing | |||
