Michigan stocks ride wave of Wall Street rally
Apr. 17—Michigan's publicly-traded companies are riding the wave of a recent Wall Street rally, driven by strong corporate earnings and promising economic data.
In fact, public companies in the state are outperforming the market, shows an index tracked by David Sowerby, portfolio manager at Bloomfield Hills-based investment firm Ancora. According to an index of some 80 publicly-traded companies in the state, the average Michigan stock is up 18% year-to-date — compared to 11% for the S&P 500.
And looking back to the end of September, he said, the average Michigan stock is up by about 50%.
Sowerby attributes the outsize performance to the large number of cyclical companies — or, businesses that are sensitive to the economic cycle — based in Michigan. Vehicle manufacturers are a prime example of cyclical stocks, and the automotive sector is one of the backbones of Michigan's economy, with three major automakers and a slew of parts suppliers. The performance of the financial sector, too, is closely tied to the economy overall.
Technology companies, on the other hand, aren't strongly represented in the state — and represent a sector that has lagged in recent quarters after a boost early on in the pandemic.
"If you think about what's in the DNA of Michigan companies ... we do have a more cyclical bias to our publicly-traded companies," Sowerby said. "Wall Street and the cyclicals like the short-term sugar high of stimulus, vaccines and reopening."
He expects the rally to continue, though perhaps at a more moderate pace.
Meanwhile, U.S. stocks overall rose on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 160 points for a record level, capping the fourth straight week of gains. The Dow crossed the 34,000 threshold for the first time ever in the previous session, according to CNBC. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to a new closing high and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.1%.
Here's a look at how the stocks of some of the state's public companies have fared since the start of the year, a period that has brought the lifting of some pandemic-related business restrictions, infusions of federal stimulus money and ramped-up distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
General Motors Co.
The Detroit automaker opened the year with a stock price of $40.51. On April 6, the company's stock closed at $61.94 per share, a high for the year so far. On Friday the stock closed at $58.67 — a nearly 45% year-to-date gain.
Ford Motor Co.
Meanwhile, crosstown rival Ford Motor Co. closed at $12.26 per share Friday. The Dearborn automaker's stock has been on a fairly steady climb over the last several months, after opening the year at $8.52 per share. Year-to-date, the Blue Oval's shares are up nearly 44%.
Stellantis NV
Stellantis NV — the company formed via the merger earlier this year of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Groupe PSA — started 2021 with a stock price of $18.52. It's been more of a steady go for the transatlantic company whose North America headquarters is in Auburn Hills. The stock closed at $18.35 per share Friday.
Rocket Cos.
The holding company that went public last year and includes mortgage lending giant Rocket Mortgage closed at $22.12 per share Friday, up just slightly from $20 at the start of the year. A major fluctuation in the company's stock price came in March, when day traders on Reddit targeted the company as they previously did the stock of GameStop Corp. On March 2, Rocket's stock closed at $41.60, but came back down over the next several days.
Dow Inc.
The Midland-based chemicals company's stock is up nearly one-fifth so far this year, from a share price of $54.04 on Jan. 4 to $64.68 at close of market Friday.
Whirlpool
It's been a solid year for Benton Harbor-based Whirlpool Corp., a multinational maker of home appliances. The stock is up nearly one-third from where it opened at the start of the year. On Friday it closed at $234.81 per share.
Domino's Pizza
After a brief dip in its stock price in early March, the Ann Arbor-headquartered pizza restaurant chain's stock has been climbing. It closed up at $394.83 per share Friday, for a 4% year-to-date gain.
TCF
TCF Financial Corp., the bank headquartered in Detroit, has rallied from a stock price of $36.88 at market's close Jan. 4 to $48.13 per share Friday, a 30% gain so far for the year.
Steelcase
Steelcase Inc., the more than century-old office furniture company that is based in Grand Rapids, ended the day Friday with a stock price of $14.61. That's about a 15% gain from early January — though the high for the company's stock so far this year came in mid-March.
La-Z-Boy
Meanwhile, another furniture maker — this one focused on home rather than office furniture and is known for its recliners — closed the week with a stock price of $43.77, up about 10% from the start of the year. La-Z-Boy Inc. is based in Monroe.
Twitter: @JGrzelewski
