Apparently investors think we have an aging population that’s ready to retire, buy a new RV and hit the country roads for an outdoors adventure. 

Forest City-based Winnebago Industries Inc. topped the Iowa Index list of 22 Iowa-based publicly traded companies after a 2017 in which its stock price increased 75.67 percent. Winnebago’s stellar 2017 comes just one year after it posted a 59.05 percent increase, good for second place in last year’s analysis.

Winnebago also had the highest five-year percentage increase in its stock price — it has grown 224 percent since 2012. For Winnebago, the year continued a trend of rapidly increasing stock prices since the recession. Had you believed in the allure of RVing during the depths of the recession on Dec. 31, 2008, and gone all in on Winnebago, you’d be looking at a nice little 822 percent gain. That’s not a typo, and that’s tops among Iowa-based publicly traded companies during that time frame.

Overall however, the Business Record’s Iowa Index underperformed national indexes, mostly missing out on the record-setting year in the markets. While the Iowa Index increased 7.6 percent, 11 of the 22 companies saw declines in stock prices for the year. By comparison, the Nasdaq and Dow increased 28.24 percent and 25.08 percent respectively.

Continue reading for additional 2017 stock information. Full Insider item