Fifteen of 21 Iowa-based companies posted stock price gains for the month of April. Six posted losses, a Business Record analysis found.

Two companies posted double-digit percentage gains: Principal Financial Group Inc. at 13.89% and Winnebago Industries Inc. at 13.55%.

Three companies posted double-digit percentage losses: KemPharm Inc. dropped 10.18%, NewLink Genetics Corp. was down 11.40%, and Lee Enterprises Inc. fell 15.15%.

The Iowa Index, an unweighted average price of 21 Iowa-based public companies, increased 3.97% in April — compared with a 4.74% increase in the Nasdaq stock index and a 2.56% increase in the Dow Jones industrial average.

Comparing April 2019 with the previous April, the drop was 7.85%. Companies were almost evenly split with 12 having a percentage loss and 10 with a percentage gain. Workiva was up 136.18% April over April, and Renewable Energy Group in Ames was not far behind with an 86.98% April-to-April gain. Renewable Energy Group’s first-quarter earnings missed estimates, and the company’s stock is currently down 34.14% year to date.

KemPharm Inc. had a 70.87% April-to-April loss, NewLink Genetics Corp. had a 62.50% loss in the period, and Flexsteel Industries Inc. lost 40.92%.

DowDuPont is not listed in the stock table for the month as the company announced that it has completed the separation of its Materials Science Division through the spinoff of Dow Inc. on April 1. DowDuPont remains on track to complete the previously announced separation of its agriculture Division, Corteva Agriscience, on June 1.

The Iowa-based companies that make up the Iowa Index are in bold in this list of companies with sizable operations in the state.

See the full Iowa Index