Several Los Angeles-area companies, including ReachLocal Inc., Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. and Hamni Financial Corp., have been added to the Russell Indexes, which is expected to increase investor interest in their stocks.
The additions to the Russell Global Index and sub-indexes based on market capitalization and other criteria were calculated after Friday’s market close, said Russell Investments, with the companies appearing in their respective indexes beginning Monday morning. Investment managers and institutional investors use Russell for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies.
ReachLocal Inc., which went public earlier this year, is a Woodland Hills provider of Internet marketing services to small and medium businesses. Lions Gate, which is poised to be embroiled in a proxy war with activist investor Carl Icahn, makes and distributes films and TV shows in Santa Monica but has its corporate headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia. Hamni Financial, a Koreatown bank that has struggled with loans that went bad during the recession, recently announced a planned $240 million capital infusion by South Korean conglomerate Woori Finance Holdings Co. Ltd.
Also added to the index are Capstone Turbine Corp., a Chatsworth maker of turbine generators; Rentech Inc., a Los Angeles developer of synthetic clean fuels; Center Financial Corp., another Koreatown bank catering to small and medium businesses; Joes Jeans Inc., a Los Angeles maker of designer denim apparel; Guidance Software Inc., a Pasadena developer of digital forensics and cybersecurity software; and National Technical Systems, Inc., a Calabasas engineering services company.
Two Los Angeles real estate companies, Kennedy-Wilson Inc. and Thomas Properties Group Inc., joined the list. Also added were two health care companies: Los Angeles managed care provider Prospect Medical Holdings, and Staar Surgical Co., a Monrovia maker of implantable corrective contact lens.
Three local companies were deleted from the index: Overhill Farms Inc., based in Vernon, makes prepared frozen food products for airlines and food service companies; PC Mall Inc., based in Torrance, sells computer products to businesses, and Radnet Inc., based in Los Angeles, operates medical imaging clinics around the country.
