Jacksonville can continue to boast of being home to four Fortune 500 companies this year.
However, three of the four companies are facing significant revenue declines, and one of them appears likely to drop out of next year’s list because of it.
CSX Corp., Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS), Fidelity National Financial Inc. and Landstar System Inc. were all included for the second straight year on Fortune magazine’s list of largest U.S. companies.
Title insurer Fidelity National Financial made the list, which is based on fiscal 2022 revenue, despite a large drop in revenue as a slowing housing market reduced demand for title insurance.
After falling 26% to $11.556 billion in 2022, Fidelity’s revenue fell another 22% to $2.47 billion in this year’s first quarter.
Fidelity fell from 238th in last year’s Fortune 500 ranking to 359th this year.
The average forecast of analysts, according to Yahoo Finance, projects Fidelity’s total 2023 revenue at $10.6 billion, but that will still keep the company safely on next year’s list. The 500th ranked company this year, Robert Half International, had $7.2 billion in 2022 revenue.
However, if current trends continue, trucking company Landstar is likely to fall out of the top 500 next year.
Landstar ranked 489th with 2022 revenue of $7.44 billion. But with lower freight traffic this year, first-quarter revenue fell 27% and it is projecting total revenue of about $2.8 billion for the first six months of the year, which would be 29% lower than last year.
The average forecast of analysts surveyed by Yahoo has Landstar at $5.8 billion in full-year revenue.
CSX, ranked 279th with $14.853 billion in 2022 revenue, and FIS, ranked 283rd with $14.528 billion, are projected by analysts to be stable this year.
But financial technology company FIS will become smaller as it works on a plan to spin off its merchant payments unit, Worldpay, as a separate company.
Worldpay accounted for $4.8 billion of the company’s total revenue last year, so shedding the business won’t bump FIS off the Fortune 500. Also, the spinoff is expected to be completed in 2024, so it won’t affect FIS’ 2023 revenue.
As it announced the list June 5, Fortune also noted that the number of Fortune 500 companies run by women increased from 44 last year to 52 in 2023.
That includes FIS, after Stephanie Ferris was promoted to CEO in December.
Jacksonville added one company to the Fortune 1000 list with Dream Finders Homes Inc. ranked at 843 with revenue of $3.342 billion.
The homebuilder, which went public in early 2021, increased revenue by 74% after an acquisition of a Texas company in late 2021 added $1.3 billion in 2022 revenue.
Meanwhile, Dun & Bradstreet Holdings Inc. fell off the Fortune 1000 list despite increasing 2022 revenue by 2.7% to $2.22 billion.
The 1000th company on this year’s list, Alliance Resource Partners, had $2.41 billion in 2022 revenue.
Dun & Bradstreet ranked 987th on last year’s list.
CEO Kanders sells additional Cadre Holdings shares
Cadre Holdings Inc. CEO Warren Kanders continues to reduce his stake in the Jacksonville-based security products company, but he retains a significant portion of the stock.
A company controlled by Kanders sold 1.725 million shares June 5, reducing his stake from about 45% to 40.8%.
Kanders controlled 76.6% of the stock after Cadre’s November 2021 initial public offering.
Cadre, which markets safety and survivability products to law enforcement and first responders, has performed well since its IPO at $13 a share, reaching a high of $31.50 in November 2022.
The stock closed at $21.76 before Kanders’ latest sale was priced at $19 a share.
The market price fell to $19.39 on June 6 after the sale.
Fidelity Investments, with 10.73% according to a June 12 Securities and Exchange Commission filing, is the second- largest stockholder in Cadre.
Boston-based Fidelity Investments is not related to Fidelity National Financial or Fidelity National Information Services.
Investment firm seeks GEE Group board seats
A Boca Raton-based investment firm is seeking two seats on Jacksonville-based GEE Group Inc.’s board of directors.
In an SEC filing, Red Oak Partners LLC said it sent a letter May 25 to GEE Group nominating two directors to the staffing services company’s seven-member board, including Red Oak founder and managing member David Sandberg.
GEE Group typically holds its annual shareholders meeting in August or September and has not yet filed a proxy statement for this year’s meeting.
Red Oak’s filing said it controls 8.7% of GEE Group’s stock.
The firm does not indicate any issues with the business of GEE Group but it is seeking some changes to the company’s bylaws, including separating the offices of board chairman and chief executive officer.
Derek Dewan has served as chairman and CEO of GEE Group since 2015.
He is best known as former chairman and CEO of Jacksonville-based MPS Group Inc., which was sold to Adecco Group in 2010.
Dewan was CEO of a Jacksonville-based company called Scribe Solutions Inc., which was acquired in 2015 by GEE Group, then known as General Employment Enterprises Inc.
Dewan joined the company after the merger.
GEE Group was headquartered in Naperville, Illinois, but moved its main office to Jacksonville in 2018.
Sandberg founded Red Oak in 2003. According to its website, Red Oak is an investment advisory firm that focuses on “investing in misunderstood and less followed opportunities primarily in North America.”
Besides Sandberg, Red Oak is also nominating Anthony Snow, who has served in various positions at Red Oak and is now president of CBA Florida Inc., a health care services company.
Margo Caribe earnings fall
Margo Caribe Inc. reported June 1 that first-quarter sales fell 9% to $12.4 million and earnings fell 11% to $2 million, or 50 cents a share.
Jacksonville-based Margo Caribe produces home and garden products through subsidiary Margo Outdoor Living Inc. Its products are sold mainly to big-box retailers but it also markets them directly to consumers online.
The company also said full-year 2022 sales fell 8% to $47.7 million and earnings fell 25% to $4.4 million, or $1.10 a share.
In a news release, CEO Michael Spector said 2022 sales were impacted largely by a single customer discontinuing a test program.
He also said sales to big-box customers have been impacted by high inventory levels and a slowdown in consumer discretionary spending.
California firm acquires Dixie Tank
A California-based firm announced June 6 it acquired Dixie Tank Co., a Jacksonville-based manufacturer of carbon and stainless-steel tanks, pressure vessels, water heaters, filters, and custom fabrications for water treatment and industrial markets.
AqueoUS Vets, a provider of water treatment and delivery systems, said the acquisition gives it a base to better serve the eastern half of the U.S.
Dixie Tank, founded in 1943, has a 6-acre facility with 78,000 square feet of manufacturing at 5349 Highway Ave. on the Westside.
Terms of the acquisition were not announced but Duval County records show AqueoUS Vets bought the Dixie Tank property in May for $3.25 million.
The company said Dixie Tank President Chris Eidson and the rest of Dixie Tank’s leadership team are joining AqueoUS Vets.
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