7 day forecast
With Alcoa out, PNC at top of most valuable public firms
Share with others:
PNC Financial Services Group inherited the region's market cap crown in 2006 after perennial champion Alcoa acknowledged its headquarters is in New York, not the place of its birth.
PNC's market cap -- short for marketing capitalization, also known as market value, which is determined by multiplying the number of its publicly traded shares by its stock price -- approached $25 billion last year, up 22 percent from 2005 but below the $26.8 billion that won Alcoa the crown in the final year of its reign.
Chart: Top market value: Also known as market capitalization, this multiplies a company's stock price by shares outstanding to put a price on what investors think it is worth.The aluminum maker's disqualification provided what little instability there was on what is typically a very stable lineup and made room for one of two new entrants in the Top 10. It also broke a string of three consecutive years in which the market cap of the Top 50 rose. It fell 4 percent last year to $160 billion, not quite half of General Electric's market cap.
Mellon Financial, H.J. Heinz, PPG Industries and U.S. Steel rounded out the Top 5, each moving up one spot from 2005. Allegheny Technologies, the best performing stock in the region and the Standard & Poor's 500 last year, moved up three spots to No. 6.
American Eagle Outfitters, the Marshall-based dean of teen retailers, moved into the eighth spot, up from 12th the previous year. Equitable Resources, whose share price advanced 14 percent last year, displaced Mylan Laboratories in the No. 10 slot. Shares of the Cecil generic drug maker tread water in 2006, dropping Mylan to an 11th place finish.
While the top half of the list didn't change much from 2005, there was some movement in the bottom half, where a few companies climbed because of strong stock performances.
Universal Stainless & Alloy Products climbed 10 spots to 39th, as record sales and earnings more than doubled the price of the Bridgeville specialty steelmaker's shares last year.
Three companies climbed seven spots.
II-VI Corp. moved up to 28th on the market cap list. The Saxonburg laser and optical equipment company was paced by a 56 percent climb in its stock price last year.
Finishing among the region's Top 10 stock market performers for the third consecutive year pushed Ansoft into 30th place on the market cap roster. The South Side electronic design software firm doubled and tripled earnings in its last two fiscal years and is on track to report higher earnings for the fiscal year ending April 30.
State College telecommunications equipment provider C-Cor, which turned in the third-best performance among regional stocks last year, finished 33rd.
Fidelity Bancorp debuted on the list in 50th place with a market cap of $57 million vs. the $112 million market cap that qualified Irwin's IBT Bancorp for the last spot on last year's list. Fidelity's entry was eased by the departure of Alcoa and two other firms: JLG Industries, which was sold to Oshkosh Truck after finishing 14th last year; and Education Management, last year's 16th place finisher, which went private in June.
First Published March 20, 2007 12:00 am
