Md. stocks gain despite national indexes losing ground

Maryland stocks gained this week even as national indexes lost ground since Friday's closing bell.

The Bloomberg Maryland Index advanced 0.4 percent throughout the week while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

Chindex International Inc. led gainers. The Bethesda-based company saw its stock rise 14.7 percent during the week to close at $13.93 yesterday.

Shares in the supplier of medical products and services to China benefited after the company raised its revenue expectations Tuesday for its fiscal year ending March 31, 2005.

Company officials said they expected revenue to increase by 25 percent to 35 percent for the period. The increase would return Chindex to profitability, they said.

The company had lost income last year as the SARS epidemic scared many from its hospitals and services. But the company expected such challenges to subside and said its new Shanghai hospital would bring more revenue into the coffers.

Other gainers included retailer Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. and hotel franchiser Choice Hotels International Inc.

Optimism in retail stocks buoyed the shares of the Hampstead- based men's clothing retailer. The stock gained 5.1 percent to close at $33.20 yesterday.

I think part of the fact was that [retail stocks] got beaten to death in December, said Michael Via, an analyst at Anderson & Strudwick in Richmond, Va.

Every Christmas people expect the worst and it didn't happen this year, he said.

Via also said traders expect retailers to continue to excel as Americans receive their tax refunds during the next few months and go shopping.

Choice Hotels, the owner of economy lodging brands like Quality Inn and Econo Lodge, traded within a penny of its 52-week high of $43.96 yesterday as heavier than average trading continued to push the stock upward. The stock has almost doubled since last May.

Analysts at Bear, Stearns & Co. attributed the run to its increased visibility on Wall Street.

We believe that the stock may have been overlooked in prior years as a result of a thin float, limited coverage by the analyst community and the perception that the higher-end of the lodging industry is more lucrative than the economy to mid-market segments, said analyst Mark J. Keiser in an email to the Daily Record.

The firm holds a buy rating on the stock and a price target of $45. Bear Stearns is affiliated with the market-maker in the stock.

But many stocks drifted downward with the national indexes.

An analyst at Sidoti & Company LLC in New York blamed profit- taking for the 4.5 percent decline in Micros Systems Inc. stock this week. Yesterday shares closed at $44.30.

There isn't any news out there pushing the stock down. It has had a nice run, said Matthew J. Kempler.

Shares in the Columbia-based maker of software for the hospitality industry came close to hitting their 52-week high last Friday. The stock peaked for the year in January.

Shares in toolmaker Black & Decker Corp. also fell this week after Securities and Exchange Commission documents showed seven employees sold more than $15 million worth of stock last week.

Spokeswoman Barbara B. Lucas said employees, for the most part, were just taking advantage of stock options that were nearing expiration periods and a stock that has been hovering near its 52- week high point.

It is more of a financial decision than a commentary on the company, she said. Lucas herself benefited from selling more than $2.1 million worth of stock in the move.

Still, an analyst at Offutt Securities Inc. in Baltimore agreed with Lucas' reasoning.

It's been a long time since Black and Decker has been this high, said R. Bentley Offutt. I don't think that amount of insider trading would cause a lot of eyebrows to rise, he said.

Other stocks losing ground included Lockheed Martin Corp. and W.R. Grace & Co. The two lost 4.1 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively, to close at $46.53 and $2.80.

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