Tyson’s stock growth tops index in quarter

Shares of Tyson Foods Inc., a processor of meat products distributed worldwide, jumped more than 31 percent in the first quarter, easily the best performance of any Arkansas stock in the first three months of the year.

Tyson closed at $44.01 Monday, up 31.5 percent from its close of $33.46 on Dec. 31.

Tyson led seven stocks with increasing stock prices for the period. Ten stocks lost ground.

The Arkansas Index of 17 state-based stocks closed at 335.42 Monday, down slightly from its close of 336.57 on Dec. 31. The index jumped 6.11 Monday, the last day of trading for the quarter.

A reason for Tyson’s improvement is that the Springdale-based firm has been a beneficiary of consumer purchasing patterns driven by the economy, said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.

“The price gap between retail chicken and beef is hovering near an all-time high and with chicken remaining cheaper than beef on a price-per-pound basis, it is a more affordable protein,” Williams said. “As a result, per capita consumption of chicken hasheld up better in the weak economic environment in the U.S. as compared with beef and pork.”

Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks had the second-best return, rising 20.3 percent in the first quarter.

“Bank of the Ozarks has continued to focus on markets, such as the recent acquisition of Houston-[based Omnibank], where they can continue to expand,” said Garland Binns, a Little Rock banking attorney. “[Bank of the Ozarks has] demonstrated impressive capabilities to expand and rapidly convert its acquisitions into contributors to the bottom line.”

USA Truck, which had the third-best gain of 10 percent for the quarter, received attention after a spurned buyout offer by Knight Transport, Williams said.

Knight Transport and Stone House Capital Management reached more than 5 percent ownership of USA Truck during the quarter, the threshold where they have to report ownership, Williams said.

“USA Truck’s lawsuit and subsequent settlement with Knight was positively received by [Wall Street],” Williams said.

America’s Car-Mart had the worst quarter, losing 13.2 percent.

Tough economic conditions hit Car-Mart’s target market and was reflected in its bottom line, Williams said.

Home BancShares’ stock dropped 7.8 percent for the quarter, followed by Acxiom Corp., which lost 7 percent for the first three months of the year.

“Acxiom’s share price has been hit by concerns about consumer whiplash over privacy and what many believe is the inevitable regulation of the data-collection industry,” Williams said.

Expectations of Acxiom executives of a drop in revenue has further weighed down the company’s shares, Williams said.

Business, Pages 23 on 04/01/2014

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