Pioneer Press: Document View

St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN)

January 1, 2011
Section: Business
Edition: St. Paul
Page: D1
Memo:2010 in review

Most on Pioneer Press 100 list showed growth for the year

60 percent of companies did better than the S&P 500's gain
Ann Harrington aharrington@pioneerpress.com

2010 was a good year for Minnesota companies that make barbecue, fertilizer and off-road vehicles. It was a year of deals for many of Minnesota's public companies and a few shakeups, especially for those whose stock lagged the market.

Despite some market turbulence, the stocks of a majority of companies on the Pioneer Press 100 -- our list of the state's largest publicly held companies ranked by market value -- ended in positive territory for the year, and 60 percent beat the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index gain of 12.8 percent for the year.

As often happens, smaller companies saw the biggest percentage gains. Incontinence specialist Uroplasty was the biggest winner, more than doubling its share price from a year ago after Medicare announced changes in reimbursement for treatments in which the Minnetonka company's Urgent PC device was used. Cardiovascular Systems, which makes a minimally invasive catheter system to treat peripheral arterial disease, saw a stock price surge after reporting a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss in November. Shares of Wayzata startup Northern Oil and Gas soared as the price of oil topped $90 a barrel.

Some big guys also did just fine. Shares of fertilizer maker Mosaic, already in the Pioneer Press top 10, took off on a takeover bid for a competitor and bullish views on grain prices. Among consumer brands, barbecue chain Famous Dave's and ATV makers Polaris Industries and Arctic Cat saw big share gains after recession-weary consumers showed they were once again willing to spend money on food and fun.

Some notable exceptions to the positive trend included Fridley-based Medtronic and Vadnais Heights-based H.B. Fuller, which finished down 16 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Both companies announced changes at the top in recent weeks, with H.B. Fuller's Michele Volpi departing abruptly in late November after four years as chief executive, and Medtronic CEO Bill Hawkins announcing he'll retire this year after a turbulent tenure.

Six companies, including four med-techs, left the Pioneer Press 100 after being acquired this year. Plymouth-based stent maker Ev3's acquisition last summer by Ireland's Covidien for $2.5 billion was the year's biggest deal. Little Canada's St. Jude Medical scooped up AGA Medical of Plymouth last fall for $1.3 billion, and Tyco Electronics closed its $1.3 billion deal for Eden Prairie's ADC Telecommunications last month. Virtual Radiologic, ATS Medical and Plato Learning also closed deals last year. Eden Prairie-based data-storage maker Compellent Technologies agreed last month to be bought for $960 million by Dell; that deal is expected to close early this year.

The Pioneer Press 100 dropped to 93 after MoneyGram International, which had been based in St. Louis Park, moved its headquarters to Dallas.

Ann Harrington can be reached at 651-228-5556.

Chart

Pioneer Press 100: 4th Quarter and 2010

Here's how the stocks of Minnesota's biggest companies measured by market value performed in the fourth quarter and full-year 2010, ranked from biggest percentage gainer to biggest percentage loser for the year.

Rank Company Dec. 31Close 4Q change 2010 change

1. Uroplasty (91) 4.03 -15% 169%

2. Cardiovascular Sys. (79) 11.66 123% 154%

3. Northern Oil & Gas (43) 27.21 61% 130%

4. Digitaltown (93) 2.60 136% 117%

5. Hawkins (58) 44.40 25% 103%

6. Stratasys (45) 32.64 18% 89%

7. Famous Dave's (81) 11.15 18% 84%

8. Polaris Industries (26) 78.02 20% 79%

9. Medtox Scientific (78) 13.10 13% 69%

10. Life Time Fitness (30) 40.99 4% 64%

11. Canterbury Park (94) 11.62 50% 61%

12. Arctic Cat (62) 14.64 43% 60%

13. Winmark (75) 33.64 1% 57%

14. Clearfield (90) 4.05 38% 56%

15. Deluxe (37) 23.02 20% 56%

16. Gr. Northern Iron Ore (67) 143.00 20% 52%

17. FSI International (73) 4.42 66% 50%

18. Ameriprise (10) 57.55 22% 48%

19. Toro (27) 61.64 10% 47%

20. Northern Technologies (89) 13.47 41% 47%

21. Tennant (47) 38.41 24% 47%

22. Fastenal (14) 59.91 13% 44%

23. Mocon (85) 12.92 3% 40%

24. NVE (60) 57.83 34% 40%

25. Select Comfort (52) 9.13 35% 40%

26. Vascular Solutions (66) 11.72 2% 40%

27. Lawson Software (35) 9.25 9% 39%

28. Graco (24) 39.45 24% 38%

29. Insignia Systems (77) 6.56 -5% 37%

30. Donaldson Co. (17) 58.28 24% 37%

31. C.H. Robinson (12) 80.19 15% 37%

32. Dolan Company (54) 13.92 22% 36%

33. Hormel Foods (15) 51.26 15% 33%

34. Caribou Coffee (71) 10.08 -3% 31%

35. MTS Systems (48) 37.46 21% 30%

36. Mosaic (6) 76.36 30% 28%

37. MakeMusic (96) 5.26 -9% 28%

38. Digital River (34) 34.42 1% 28%

39. ValueVision Media (74) 6.11 225% 27%

40. CyberOptics (83) 8.54 -6% 27%

41. Valspar (20) 34.48 8% 27%

42. Synovis Life Tech (63) 16.11 8% 25%

43. Target (4) 60.13 13% 24%

44. G&K Services (46) 30.91 35% 23%

45. Digi International (56) 11.10 17% 22%

46. Compellent Tech (44) 27.59 52% 22%

47. U.S. Bancorp (2) 26.97 25% 20%

48. UnitedHealth (5) 36.11 3% 18%

49. Imation (50) 10.31 11% 18%

50. St. Jude Medical (9) 42.75 9% 16%

51. Nash Finch (51) 42.51 0% 15%

52. Image Sensing Systems (87) 13.01 16% 14%

53. Allete (32) 37.26 2% 14%

54. Lakes Entertainment (84) 2.85 68% 14%

55. Ecolab (11) 50.42 -1% 13%

56. Pentair (19) 36.51 9% 13%

57. Communications Sys. (76) 14.05 23% 13%

58. Xcel Energy (13) 23.55 3% 11%

59. Vital Images (59) 13.98 6% 10%

60. Fair Isaac (31) 23.37 -5% 10%

61. Patterson Cos. (16) 30.63 7% 9%

62. Buffalo Wild Wings (38) 43.85 -8% 9%

63. TCF Financial (23) 14.81 -9% 9%

64. HickoryTech (72) 9.56 12% 8%

65. Datalink (82) 4.67 54% 8%

66. Regis (36) 16.60 -13% 7%

67. 3M (1) 86.30 0% 4%

68. Navarre (80) 2.14 -18% 1%

69. General Mills (7) 35.59 -3% 1%

70. Rochester Medical (65) 10.92 0% -2%

71. Amer. Med. Systems (29) 18.86 -4% -2%

72. Apogee Enterprises (49) 13.47 47% -4%

73. Techne (22) 65.67 6% -4%

74. New Ulm Telecomm (95) 5.50 4% -8%

75. Otter Tail Corp. (40) 22.54 11% -9%

76. Aetrium (92) 2.35 -13% -9%

77. H.B. Fuller (33) 20.52 3% -10%

78. Capella Education (28) 66.58 -14% -12%

79. Best Buy (8) 34.29 -16% -13%

80. Rimage (69) 14.91 -9% -14%

81. Medtronic (3) 37.09 10% -16%

82. Alliant Techsystems (21) 74.43 -1% -16%

83. Christopher & Banks (56) 6.15 -22% -19%

84. Supervalu (18) 9.63 -16% -24%

85. Xata (86) 2.09 -16% -27%

86. Piper Jaffray (39) 35.01 20% -31%

87. HMN Financial (100) 2.81 -11% -33%

88. SurModics (53) 11.87 0% -48%

89. ProUroCare Medical (97) 1.20 -20% -52%

90. Wireless Ronin Tech. (88) 1.45 21% -61%

91. Broadview Institute (99) 1.15 -46% -62%

92. Hutchinson Tech (68) 3.71 7% -64%

93. Urologix (98) 0.64 -33% -65%

OFF THE LIST

Plato Learning was acquired May 26, 2010, by Thoma Cressey Bravo, a Chicago private equity firm.

Ev3 was acquired by Covidien on July 13, 2010.

Virtual Radiologic was acquired by Providence Equity Partners on July 13, 2010.

ATS Medical was acquired by Medtronic on Aug. 13, 2010.

MoneyGram International moved its corporate headquarters to Dallas on Nov. 1, 2010.

AGA Medical was acquired by St. Jude Medical on Nov. 19, 2010.

ADC Telecommunications was acquired by Tyco Electronics on Dec. 10, 2010.