University of Miami's Florida 50 Stock Index Gains More than 11% in 2016, Led by WellCare Health Plans, Rayonier Advanced Materials, and Marriott Vacations Worldwide

CORAL GABLES, Fla., Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The University of Miami's Florida 50 Index ended 2016 with a gain of 11.46% and with eight of its firms seeing stock prices rise more than 40%. The gain in the Florida index, which tracks all Florida firms in the S&P Composite 1500® Index, edged out the broader S&P 500 by 1.92% and the S&P 1500 by 0.81%.

The eight firms in the Florida index with gains of more than 40% were:

    --  WellCare Health Plans Inc.
    --  Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc.
    --  Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp.
    --  KLX Inc.
    --  Landstar System Inc.
    --  B/E Aerospace Inc.
    --  Brown & Brown Inc.
    --  CSX Corp.

The Florida 50 Index, which was established in January 2016 by the University of Miami School of Business Administration, is the first custom S&P Dow Jones index to be owned by a university. It is intended to act as an effective representation of the stock market and a bellwether for the Florida economy.

"The 2016 performance of the University of Miami's Florida 50 Index shows that not only are Florida-based firms keeping pace with their counterparts across the country, as a cross-section, they're actually seeing results coming in even better," said Seth Levine, an accounting lecturer at the School of Business. "Investors may do well to keep an eye on this index in the future as they weigh their investment decisions."

The Florida 50 Index is based on the capitalizations of about 50 Florida-based large-, mid- and small-cap companies included in the S&P 1500 index having common stock listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ.

The index is available under the ticker symbol UMIAMIFL through the S&P website at: www.UMFL50.com. The performance can be monitored in real time on Yahoo Finance.

About the University of Miami School of Business Administration

The University of Miami School of Business Administration is a leader in preparing individuals and organizations to excel in the complex, dynamic, and interconnected world of global business. One of 12 schools and colleges at the University of Miami, the School offers undergraduate, master's, doctoral, and executive education programs. With its location in a major center for international business, the School is acclaimed for its global perspective, student and faculty diversity, and engagement with the business community. More information about the University of Miami School of Business can be found at www.bus.miami.edu.

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SOURCE University of Miami School of Business Administration