Richmond increases Fortune 500 count to 8

PFG is back on the list after returning to the stock market last year.

Note: This story has been revised to show that CarMax moved up in its ranking on the list. An earlier version incorrectly stated that the company’s ranking had dropped.

Two local companies are among the newest members of the Fortune 500.

Eight locally based firms were named this week to the annual list, compiled by Fortune magazine to rank publically traded American companies based off their previous year’s revenue. Last year, six Richmond-area firms cracked the list.

Goochland-based Performance Food Group returns to the list after seven years as a private company. The food distributor returned to the New York Stock Exchange in October after previously being one of Richmond’s largest privately traded companies and posted $15.27 billion in revenue – an 11.6 percent increase from last year – and $57 million in profits.

At 185, Performance Food Group displaced used car seller CarMax as the second-highest local company on this year’s Fortune 500 after Altria. The tobacco giant earned the 149th spot on the list with $18.86 billion in revenue, which was up 5.1 percent. CarMax (191), moved up 41 spots in the rankings, reflecting a 13.3 percent revenue increase to $14.87 billion.

Glen Allen insurance firm Markel broke onto the list at 476, after falling just shy of entering the Fortune 500 last year. It is the first year the Fortune 500 listed Markel, which drew $5.37 billion in revenue for a 4.6 percent increase and an 81.4 percent profit spike to $583 million.

Downtown-based packaging heavyweight WestRock Co. (251) improved its position on the list after its formation from the merger of Richmond-based MeadWestvaco and Georgia-based Rock-Tenn Co. The merger prompted WestRock to the largest rise in the rankings among local companies and one of the largest on the entire list. WestRock, which earned $11.38 billion in revenue, remains headquartered in Richmond.

Dominion Resources (243), Owens & Minor (291) and Genworth Financial (306) – Richmond mainstays in the Fortune 500 – once again made the list.

Dominion saw its revenue drop 6.1 percent to $11.68 billion while retaining its previous ranking and increasing profits 45 percent to $1.9 billion. Mechanicsville-based healthcare logistics firm Owens & Minor increased revenue by 3.5 percent to $9.77 billion, with a profit increase of 55.5 percent to $103 million.

Both companies, along with Altria, have been Fortune 500 members since the list’s inception in 1994. CarMax has made the list 13 times. This is Genworth’s 11th year on the list. Performance Food Group has made it eight times and WestRock five as MeadWestvaco.

WestRock saw the largest revenue increase among its local peers on the list, while Dominion Resources experienced the largest revenue drop.

Walmart retained its position at the top of the national list. Healthcare services company McKesson entered the top five after being ranked outside the top 10 last year. ExxonMobil, Chevron and Berkshire Hathaway fall in between those companies to complete the top five.

In total, 22 Virginia companies landed in the Fortune 500.

The full list, released Tuesday, can be viewed here.

Richmond Fortune 500 Companies