Canterbury, General Mills among top Minnesota stock performers this year

The Minnesota company with the best performing stock this year is in the business of horse racing, poker and land development.

The second best is in the oil business.

Among Minnesota's Fortune 500 businesses, General Mills is the top performer.

However, shares in most of Minnesota's publicly traded companies lost value through the first six months this year amid a broad sell-off in the stock markets. Six out of every eight local public companies saw shares decline by double digits, with iMedia losing the most, 80%.

With the markets' wild ride, we decided to check in with money managers from our Investors Roundtable in December to see what their predictions are for the rest of the year. Most have reset their expectations.

In December, they projected the S&P 500 would finish 2022 between 4,800 and 5,150 points, though most of the participants predicted the volatility seen this year. Projections now range from 3,250 to 4,800 by year-end.

"Unfortunately, things haven't gone right and the Fed is behind the curve," said Erica Bergsland, senior vice president and chief risk officer of Securian Asset Management. "Inflation has been higher, and more persistent that we thought it would be."

"An emerging trend from first-half company results, as reported by airlines, hotel companies, credit card companies, big-box retailers and others is that consumers are paying for experiences, such as travel and leisure, beauty items, party dresses, office clothes and household essentials," said Lisa Erickson, strategy director at U.S. Bank's Wealth Management Group. "Demand for COVID pandemic categories, such as active wear, home furnishings, bicycles and televisions has slowed."

Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group, predicted in December that the markets would see a correction this year. He said this week it feels like the correction seems midcycle. For the second half of the year, he suggests investors look now to growth stocks, consumer discretionary stocks, small caps and industrials.

While Shakopee-based Canterbury Park Holding Corp. shares increased 51.2% in the first half of the year, they could benefit more if legalized sports gambling passes in Minnesota. General Mills saw gains as consumers turned to grocery staples as prices rose.

Wayzata-based Northern Oil and Gas, whose shares rose 24.2%, benefited from rising oil and gas prices along with the industry as a whole. The company also has been investing in new wells. Analysts following the company raised their price targets after Northern Oil closed on a $419 million deal for assets in New Mexico and Texas in January and in early June announced it will acquire oil and gas assets in North Dakota for about $175 million.

"We are well ahead of our goals for this year, but these developments are setting the stage for material growth in volumes and cash flow for 2023," said Nick O'Grady, the chief executive of Northern Oil and Gas, in a release announcing the latest acquisition.

The Roundtable participants have differing opinions on how those factors will affect the economy and whether the country is headed into recession, but they also said to expect more volatility.

Biff Robillard, president and portfolio manager for Bannerstone Capital, is sticking with his December prediction. It was not very optimistic then but looks much different today.