2011 tough on Arkansas-based stocks

The share price of just seven of the 15 publicly held companies based in Arkansas saw a gain during 2011, and the final trading day of 2011 saw share price declines with 12 of the 15 shares. (See the chart at end of story.)

El Dorado-based Murphy Oil (NYSE: MUR) traded 4 cents higher on Friday, Tontitown-based P.A.M. Transport (NASDAQ: PTSI) was up 3 cents and Van Buren-based USA Truck (NASDAQ: USAK) was up 12 cents.

The biggest share price gain — in percentage terms — during 2011 was with Springdale-based Tyson Foods. Shares of the global protein processing and distribution company began the year at $16.42 and closed Friday at $20.64, a 25.71% gain.

Other gainers during 2011 were Bentonville-based America’s Car Mart, El Dorado-based Deltic Timber, Little Rock-based Dillard’s, Conway-based Home Bancshares, Lowell-based J.B. Hunt Transport and Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores.

Van Buren-based USA Truck posted the largest share price decline during a year that saw the company’s earnings decline on operational errors. The truckload carrier saw its share price open 2011 at $13.34 and close Friday at $7.73, down 42.05%.

Officials with USA Truck announced Aug. 22 that problems with new software and the old problems of a soft economy would result in a quarterly loss. The company reported a loss of $4.305 million for the third quarter, compared to a $586,000 gain the 2010 period. For the first nine months of 2011, the company has lost $6.423 million, compared to a loss of $1.51 million in the 2010 period.

Company officials have also fought off a takeover attempt by Indianapolis-based Celadon.

Other decliners during 2011 were Little Rock-based Acxiom Corp., Fort Smith-based Arkansas Best Corp., Murphy Oil, P.A.M. Transport, Pine Bluff-based Simmons First and Little Rock-based Windstream.

The one technicality with the 15 Arkansas stocks is with Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks. The bank had a 2:1 market split on Aug. 17.

NATIONAL MARKET MOVES
On the national level, only the Dow Jones Industrial Average was able to recover from a disastrous third-quarter and end the year above its January opening number. The closely watched NASDAQ Composite and S&P 500 indices ended 2011 below their January opening number.

According to market historians, the third quarter was the worse in terms of major index decline since the late 2008 credit crisis.

DJIA
Dec. 30: 12,217.56
Sept. 30: 10,913.38
June 30: 12,414.34
Jan. 3: 11.670.75

NASDAQ Composite
Dec. 30: 2,605.15
Sept. 30: 2,415.40
June 30: 2,773.52
Jan. 3: 2,691.52

S&P 500
Dec. 30: 1,257.60
Sept. 30: 1,131.42
June 30: 1,320.64
Jan. 3: 1,271.87