Our stock index of Minnesota companies is undergoing some changes

An index developed by Piper Jaffray and the Star Tribune to gauge the stock performance of the state's publicly traded companies is getting a new name along with some new components.

The renaming is due to the completion by Piper Jaffray of its biggest-ever acquisition, the $485 million purchase of the storied New York investment firm Sandler O'Neill + Partners, earlier this month.

The Minneapolis investment bank itself was renamed Piper Sandler Cos. and took a new stock symbol, PIPR. And the index of Minnesota stocks will now be called the Piper Sandler Minnesota Index.

The index, which equally weights companies that are based in Minnesota or with significant employment and management centers in the state, is also being rebalanced. Some companies that have moved or shrunk are departing. Some that completed an initial public offering are being added.

Firms on the index have a market value of at least $100 million. Some fell off the list because their value dropped.

Altogether, the index now has 57 companies on it. Last year, the index didn't rise as fast as the broader stock market. It finished 2019 up 21% while the S&P 500 was up 31%.

The new additions are led by Ceridian HCM Holding Inc., which had the biggest IPO in Minnesota history in 2018. The Bloomington-based supplier of human capital management software, whose company roots go back to Control Data Corp., raised $630 million from the public listing, a concurrent private offering and an overallotment.

Calyxt Inc., a gene-editing company working on producing healthier agriculture products, and Celcuity Inc. a cellular-analysis company looking for advancements in personalized medicine completed IPOs in 2017. Calyxt is trading below its $8 per share offering price and Celcuity only $1.50 per share over their offering price. But both are valuable enough to add.

The index is also adding a couple of smaller companies that have seen their market caps increase to more than $100 million since the last update. Those include Northern Technologies International Corp. and IntriCon Corp.

Another addition is Vista Outdoor, owner of brands like Federal Ammunition, CamelBak and Bell, the bicycle-helmets firm. The company moved its headquarters from Utah to Anoka in 2018.

The index is also adding the Pentair spinoff nVent Electric, even though it is officially registered in London. The company's principal management offices are in St. Louis Park.

For similar reasons, the index includes Medtronic, Pentair and Stratasys. All have sizable operations and top management in the state, though their legal headquarters are overseas

TCF's former CEO, Craig Dahl, became chief of the combined company and is splitting time between the two cities and on the road.

Several other major companies that are based elsewhere but have large Minnesota operations will remain on the index. Those include Delta Air Lines, Thomson Reuters and Boston Scientific.

The index is adding Chicago-based Abbott Laboratories, which bought Little Canada-based St. Jude Medical in 2017.

The index will no longer include Mosaic Corp., the crop nutrients company that moved its headquarters from Plymouth to Tampa near one of its largest production facilities.