Stocks of big Georgia firms outperform market

UPS… $102.85… -0.8%… $992

Coca-Cola… $42.29… 4.0%… $1,040

Delta Air Lines… $40.31… 47.3%… $1,473

Aflac …$62.66… -5.1%… $949

Southern Co…. $45.08… 12.3%… $1,123

Genuine Parts… $87.91… 7.1%…$1,071

AGCO… $55.52… -5.8% …$942

Rock-Tenn… $106.65… 2.3%… $1,023

SunTrust Banks… $40.12… 9.9%… $1,099

HD Supply… $28.05… 16.8%… $1,168

Coca-Cola Enterprises… $47.93… 9.8%… $1,098

Mohawk Industries… $139.56… -6.3%… $937

NCR… $35.49… 4.2%… $1,042

Newell Rubbermaid… $31.40…-2.1%… $979

Asbury Automotive Group… $69.38… 29.1%… $1,291

Median return of group: 4.1%

Value of portfolio invested at year-end 2013: $17,232

Year-to-date return of portfolio: 7.7%

* Shareholder returns include reinvested dividends

Note: List excludes Fortune 500 first First Data Corp., which doesn’t have publicly-traded shares.

Georgia’s largest public companies have been beating the record stock market so far this year, but mostly with the help of a few muscular performers.

A rosier global outlook for manufacturers helped propel the Dow Jones Industrial average to record territory Tuesday, and the S&P 500 index has risen almost 6.8 percent so far this year, after jumping 30 percent last year.

Georgia’s 16 largest public companies so far have rewarded shareholders with a 7.7 percent overall return this year.

An investor who bought $1,000 worth of shares of the 16 Georgia firms on the Fortune 500 list, which ranks firms by revenues, would have had a portfolio worth $17,232 as of Tuesday. (Fortune magazine actually lists 17 Fortune 500 firms in Georgia, but First Data Corp. doesn’t have publicly-traded shares.)

Some Georgia firms have clearly flown higher so far this year, including air carrier Delta Air Lines, with a 47.3 percent gain, auto retailer Asbury Automotive Group, up 29.1 percent, and HD Supply, up 16.8 percent.

Those big gains helped offset the lagging stock performance from a majority of the Georgia companies on the list, which posted a 4.1 percent median return so far this year. Five companies’ shares have shown declines so far this year: UPS, Aflac, AGCO, Mohawk Industries and Newell Rubbermaid.