NEW YORK, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's will make the following changes to the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400, and S&P SmallCap 600 indices:
* S&P MidCap 400 constituent Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. will
replace Comverse Technology Inc. in the S&P 500, S&P
SmallCap 600 constituent Frontier Oil Corp. will replace
Polo Ralph Lauren in the S&P MidCap 400, and HealthExtras Inc.
will replace Frontier Oil in the S&P SmallCap 600 after
the close of trading on Thursday, February 1. Comverse was removed from
the S&P 500 after today's close of trading, pursuant to its delisting by
NASDAQ before tomorrow's market open.
* S&P SmallCap 600 constituent Central Garden & Pet Co. has
declared a special dividend in the form of two shares of Class A stock
for each outstanding share of the company's existing common stock and
Class B stock. After the distribution, Class A shares will represent 67%
of Central Garden & Pet's outstanding stock. As a result, Standard &
Poor's will remove Central Garden and Pet's common stock from the S&P
SmallCap 600 index, and replace it with Class A stock
after the close of trading on Tuesday, February 6.
* UniFirst Corp. will replace Digital Insight Corp.
in the S&P SmallCap 600 after the close of trading on a
date to be announced. Digital Insight is being acquired by S&P 500
constituent Intuit Inc. in a deal that is still pending
final approvals.
* Standard & Poor's is implementing an enhancement of its U.S. index
inclusion criteria. Specifically, the criterion of financial viability,
usually measured as four consecutive quarters of profitability, will now
also encompass balance sheet leverage. A candidate company's debt level
should be operationally justifiable, in the context of both its industry
peers and its business model.
Standard & Poor's will monitor these transactions, and post any relevant updates on its website: http://www.standardandpoors.com/.
Polo Ralph Lauren engages in the design, marketing, and distribution of men's and women's clothing and other lifestyle products. Headquartered in New York, NY, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Apparel, Accessories & Luxury Goods Sub-Industry index.
Frontier Oil engages in crude oil refining and the wholesale marketing of refined petroleum products. Headquartered in Houston, TX, the company will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 GICS Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing Sub-Industry index.
HealthExtras provides pharmacy benefit management services and supplemental benefit programs. Headquartered in Rockville, MD, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Health Care Services Sub-Industry index.
Central Garden & Pet engages in the production and marketing of products for the lawn and garden, and pet supplies industries. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Household Products Sub-Industry index.
UniFirst provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States. Headquartered in Wilmington, MA, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Apparel, Accessories & Luxury Goods Sub-Industry index.
Following is a summary of the changes:
S&P 500 INDEX - February 1, 2007
COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
ADDED Polo Ralph Lauren Consumer Discretionary Apparel, Accessories
& Luxury Goods
S&P MIDCAP 400 INDEX - February 1, 2007
COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
ADDED Frontier Oil Energy Oil & Gas Refining
& Marketing
DELETED Polo Ralph Lauren Consumer Discretionary Apparel, Accessories
& Luxury Goods
S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - February 1, 2007
COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
ADDED HealthExtras Health Care Health Care Services
DELETED Frontier Oil Energy Oil & Gas Refining &
Marketing
S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - February 6, 2007
COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
ADDED Central Garden & Pet Consumer Staples Household Products
"A" shares
DELETED Central Garden & Pet Consumer Staples Household Products
"common" shares
S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - To Be Announced
COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
ADDED UniFirst Consumer Discretionary Apparel, Accessories
& Luxury Goods
DELETED Digital Insight Information Technology Internet Software
& Services
Additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the companies concerned.
About Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies , is the world's foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With approximately 7,500 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 21 countries, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com/.
About The McGraw-Hill Companies: Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 240 offices in 36 countries. Sales in 2005 were $6.0 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.
