THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 26, 1997 TAG: 9701250542
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 96 lines
Whether they monitor the stock prices flashing across a television screen or retrieve information via the Internet, investors have to know the ticker symbol of a company they are following.
For many companies, the symbol is as much a marketing tool as a form of identification.
The giant brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos. uses BUD to distinguish its stock, while Caterpillar Inc., the manufacturer of earth-moving equipment, identifies its shares byCAT.
For the shares of Brothers Gourmet Coffees, the ticker symbol is BEAN, and Schlotzky's Inc. relies on the abbreviation BUNZ.
When shares of Smithfield Cos. began trading publicly in 1988, the producer of Smithfield hams and other specialty meats chose HAMS for a ticker symbol.
The distinctive symbol probably hasn't prompted any investors to purchase stock in the company, said Mark Bedard, Smithfield Cos.' chief financial officer. However, it has helped the company distinguish itself from Smithfield Foods Inc., a much larger meatpacking and processing company with a similar name.
``Stockholders get a chuckle out of it and say `That's pretty neat,' '' Bedard said. ``Once they know it's HAMS, it's hard to forget.''
The use of letters to identify a company's stock dates back to the mid-19th century when share prices were transmitted by telegraph. Even after stock exchanges began transmitting information electronically, they continued to use the symbols.
The New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers' Nasdaq market allow companies to choose their own symbol. The company gets the designation as long as it hasn't been taken by another company and isn't offensive.
``There are no hard and fast rules,'' said Ray Pellecchia, a spokesman for the New York Stock Exchange. ``We make every effort to accommodate the company.''
But the New York and American stock exchanges and Nasdaq own the symbols and have the final say.
When Newport News Shipbuilding prepared for its spinoff from Tenneco Inc. last December, the shipyard had to come up with a symbol for its shares. The choice was easy: it asked for the NNS designation used before the yard was acquired by Tenneco in 1968.
With hundreds of companies becoming publicly traded, a scramble for symbols is under way. At Newport News Shipbuilding, there was some concern that NNS might have been taken. ``We were pleasantly surprised that it was available,'' said Jerri Fuller Dickseski, a spokeswoman for the shipyard.
Another Virginia company that recently sought a symbol for new stock was Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield. The Richmond-based insurer is scheduled to issue shares in its new holding company, Trigon Healthcare Inc., next month. The shares will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TGH.
At the New York and American stock exchanges, most ticker symbols consist of three letters. Some use two letters, and a few corporate giants have held onto a single-letter code. AT&T Corp., for example, still uses T, and Ford Motor Co. relies on F. Sears, Roebuck & Co. is identified by S.
All stocks on the Nasdaq system have four letters. In an unusual situation such as a bankruptcy, Nasdaq will tack on a fifth letter. ILLUSTRATION: Graphics
Some ticker symbols of Virginia companies:
CNIT: CENIT Bancorp Inc. (banking)
CFBS: Central Fidelity Banks Inc. (banking)
CSK: Chesapeake Corp. (paper manufacturing)
CF: Crestar Financial Corp. (banking)
CSX: CSX Corp. (railroad, ocean shipping)
CC: Circuit City Stores Inc. (retailer of electronic goods and
appliances)
D: Dominion Resources Inc. (electric power)
FVB: First Virginia Banks Inc. (banking)
JTAX: Jackson Hewitt Inc. (tax-preparation services)
JR: James River Corp. (paper manufacturing)
LIFB: Life Bancorp Inc. (banking)
NOLD: Noland Co. (wholesaler of plumbing, heating, cooling
equipment)
NSC: Norfolk Southern Corp. (railroad)
OMI: Owens & Minor Inc. (distribution of medical products)
RLM: Reynolds Metals Co. (aluminum production and processing)
RFH: Richfood Holdings Inc. (grocery wholesaler)
SBK: Signet Banking Corp. (banking)
SFDS: Smithfield Foods Inc. (meatpacking and processing company)
SCOT: Scott & Stringfellow Financial Inc., (brokerage firm)
TG: Tredegar Industries Inc. (manufacturing)
U: USAir Group Inc. (airline)
Some unusual ticker symbols:
CAKE: The Cheesecake Factory (restaurant chain)
PAWN: First Cash Inc. (pawn shops)
RARE: Rare Hospitality International Inc. (steak houses)
RAYS: Sunglass Hut International (retailer of sunglasses)
Standard & Poor's, the securities information company and source
of the S&P 500 index, has issued a 1997 edition of its Ticker Symbol
Book. The paperback identifies 10,000 stocks by their ticker symbols
and company names.