2007 FORTUNE 500

Top performing stocks of 2006

These 20 stocks produced the largest total returns to shareholders in 2006. For this list, we included only Fortune 500 companies that traded for at least $2.

By Katie Benner, David Ellis, Steve Hargreaves, Rob Kelley and Keisha Lamothe
Nucor (<a href='http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=NUE'>NUE</a>)
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Nucor (NUE)
Total return: 70%
Fortune 500 rank: 161
Like other companies in the steel sector, Nucor was able to charge higher prices in 2006 and offset flat shipments. The steel manufacturer and retailer, which is known for its excellent management, also bought back stock and upped its dividend. JP Morgan analyst Michael Gambardella notes that the company has never lost money, and writes in a research report that "its trading multiples do not reflect the company's earnings power."

Going forward, he says industry consolidation will help the company because "Nucor is no longer competing against a group of highly fragmented and financially distressed competitors that were prone to make stupid production and pricing actions."

See more Fortune 500 data for Nucor
Allegheny Terex AK Steel OfficeMax Level 3 CarMax Continental Big Lots Agco Cablevision DirecTV GameStop Nucor Emcor Oneok Group 1 Automotive General Motors Lexmark Comcast Manpower
Total return to investors includes both price appreciation and dividend yield to an investor in the company's stock. The figures shown assume sales at the end of 2006 of stock owned at the end of 2005.
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Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2013 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones IndexesSM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones IndexesSM © 2013 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2013. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.
© 2013 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy. Ad choices .