Three weeks after splitting its stock 5 shares to 1, Publix has announced its stock is on the rise.
The grocery — whose stock is not publicly traded, but rather held by employees and directors — split its stock on April 14, at which point it was worth $68.80 per share. The split cut the price to $13.76 per share, with shareholders getting five shares for every one they owned.
In an earnings report on Monday, Publix announced its stock price was going up to $14.91 — an increase of $1.15 per share under the new value, or $5.75 per pre-split share. By dollars, that’s a company record for a single stock price increase, although there have been larger increases on a percentage basis.
“After two years of the difficult pandemic, we are delighted to share the news of a stock split and now a stock price increase,” Publix CEO Todd Jones said in a statement. “This good news is the result of the efforts of our associate owners and their dedication to serving our customers, communities and each other.”
For the first quarter of 2022, Publix reported sales of $13.2 billion, up from $11.7 billion during the same quarter last year. Net earnings dropped significantly due to unrealized losses through the company’s equity securities — $618 million, a huge drop from $1.5 billion in 2021. When adjusted to account for those losses and last year’s gains, however, Publix’s net earnings were up 15.5 percent, to $1.1 billion.
As part of the stock split, Publix announced a dividend of 9 cents per share that was slated to be paid out Monday.
