NEW YORK, Jan. 30, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. ("NASDAQ") (Nasdaq:NDAQ) and Mergent, Inc. announced today the results of the annual review of the NASDAQ Dividend Achievers(tm) Index, which will become effective with the market open on Friday, February 1, 2008.
The review will result in eight securities being added to the Index. All securities meet Dividend Achievers requirements of increased annual regular dividend payments for the last ten or more consecutive years. The securities must also meet additional liquidity screening criteria as determined by Mergent. As a result of the re-ranking four securities will be removed from the Index.
The NASDAQ Dividend Achievers Index is calculated using a market capitalization weighting methodology. The index will be calculated and disseminated on a price return basis (Nasdaq:DIVQ) and a total return basis (Nasdaq:DVQT). For more information about the NASDAQ Dividend Achievers Index, including eligibility criteria, visit www.NASDAQ.com.
Additions:
ACAS American Capital Strategies, Ltd. CHRW C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. OZRK Bank of the Ozarks RBPAA Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc. SBKC Security Bank Corporation SHEN Shenandoah Telecommunications Co SUBK Suffolk Bancorp UVSP Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania
Deletions:
OMEF Omega Financial Corporation PBCT People's United Financial, Inc. PCBC Pacific Capital Bancorp SLFI Sterling Financial Corporation
About Mergent
Mergent, Inc., a Xinhua Finance company (TSE Mothers: 9399; OTC ADRs: XHFNY), is the preferred provider of business and financial data on global publicly listed companies. Headquartered in Fort Mill, SC and New York City with sales offices in key North American cities, Mergent also has a strong global presence with offices in London, Shanghai, Tokyo, Toronto and Sydney. Mergent's databases contain detailed equity, debt and corporate action information on over 15,000 U.S. public companies, 20,000 non-U.S. public companies and all U.S. municipal bonds. For more than a century, Mergent has been providing solutions to clients in the investment management, academic, research and corporate information fields. Today, that unique experience is combined with leading-edge technology to form a robust, diverse product line that operates under Mergent's umbrella. These include Mergent's Dividend Achievers Indices -- the premier benchmark for long-term returns; Ford Equity Research -- a leading independent investment research firm; Mergent Online -- a powerful web-based research portal that provides critical business information to support daily research and analysis; Mergent Manuals, Handbooks and Investment Guides; in-depth municipal and corporate fixed-income data, as well as end-of-day evaluation pricing; EventsData -- providing real-time information on corporate actions, dividend payouts, news and updates directly to client desktops. For more information, please visit www.mergent.com and www.dividendachievers.com.
About NASDAQ
NASDAQ is the largest U.S. equities exchange. With approximately 3,100 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. It is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. NASDAQ is the primary market for trading NASDAQ-listed stocks as well as a leading liquidity pool for trading NYSE-listed stocks. For more information about NASDAQ, visit the NASDAQ Web site at www.nasdaq.com or the NASDAQ Newsroom at www.nasdaq.com/newsroom/.
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