Miami Herbert Business School's Florida 50 Stock Index (UMIAMIFL) closes at 245.17 - a 145.17% increase since its launch in 2016

CORAL GABLES, Fla., Jan. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Miami Herbert Business School's Florida 50 Index (UMIAMIFL), which is calculated by Standard and Poors (S&P) Custom Indices, finished 2021 with a modest gain of 17.64%, and half of its companies saw their stock prices rise by over 20%.

The Florida index, which tracks all Florida-based firms in the S&P Composite 1500® Index, was established by the Department of Accounting with a baseline value of 100 on January 1, 2016. During the six years since its launch, the Florida 50 index has increased a total of 145.17%. By comparison, the broader S&P 500 rose 133.19% and the S&P 1500 gained 130.71% during this time. This represents a gain for the Florida 50 index of 16.12% per year on an annualized basis versus annualized gains of 15.16% and 14.95% for the S&P 500 and the S&P 1500, respectively.

The firms in the Florida index which boasted 2021 stock increases of more than 25% were:

Chico's FAS – CHS (+238.36%)
Cross Country Healthcare – CCRN (+212.97%)
NV5 Global – NVEE            (+75.32%)
MarineMax – HZO (+68.54%)
AutoNation – AN (+67.43%)
Jabil – JBL (+65.41%)
Regency Centers – REG (+65.28%)
Affiliated Managers Group – AMG (+61.76%)
HCI Group – HCI (+59.73%)
Raymond James Financial – RJF (+57.42%)
Lennar – LEN (+52.38%)
TopBuild – BLD (+49.89%)
Brown & Brown – BRO (+48.24%)
Celsius Holdings – CELH (+48.22%)
Carrier Global – CARR (+43.80%)
Watsco – WSO (+38.11%)
SBA Communications – SBAC (+37.89%)
Rayonier – RYN (+37.37%)
MasTec – MTZ (+35.35%)
ODP Corp – ODP (+34.06%)
Ryder System – R (+33.47%)
Landstar System – LSTR (+32.94%)
Chatham Lodging – CLDT (+27.04%)
Darden Restaurants – DRI (+26.46%)

"The six-year performance of Miami Herbert's Florida 50 Index shows that even in a market that has rebounded nicely from the tumultuous first half of 2020, Florida-based firms as a cross section are more than keeping pace with their counterparts across the country." said Seth Levine, CPA, an accounting program director at Miami Herbert and creator of the index.

While some of Florida's publicly traded companies still haven't recovered from the losses of the first two quarters of 2020, several companies have seen their capitalizations soar during the pandemic. These include Chico's FAS, a specialty retailer whose brands include White House Black Market and Soma; Cross Country Healthcare, a medical staffing provider; and NV5 Global, a provider of professional and technical engineering and consulting solutions. NV5 Global is actually a newcomer to the Florida 50 as it was recently added to the S&P 600.

"The twelve largest companies in the Florida 50 Index have a combined market capitalization of over $300 billion. Florida's GDP, which surpassed $1 trillion in 2018, rivals that of countries like Spain and Mexico, and thus investors would do well to keep an eye on this index in the future as they weigh their own investment decisions."

The index is based on the capitalizations of all Florida-based large-, mid- and small-cap companies included in the S&P 1500 index having common stock listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ. It is the very first custom S&P Dow Jones index to be owned by a university and the only index that focuses solely on public companies headquartered in an individual U.S. state.

About Miami Herbert Business School
Miami Herbert is a leader in preparing individuals and organizations to excel in the complex, dynamic, and interconnected world of global business. The School offers undergraduate, master's, doctoral, and executive education programs. Miami Herbert is acclaimed for its global perspective, student and faculty diversity, and engagement with the business community.

SOURCE Miami Herbert Business School