Hart Capital Management Inc., a Spokane-based investment firm, says the stock value of 14 publicly traded Inland Northwest companies rose just over 12 percent last year in an overall index, but still lagged behind the Standard & Poor 500’s nearly 30 percent climb for 2013.

During all of last year, Spokane-area bank stocks significantly outpaced the stock of companies in other industries here. At the top, the stock prices of Idaho Independent Bank, Sterling Financial Corp., and Intermountain Community Bancorp rose by 138 percent, 63 percent, and 37 percent, respectively. 

Meanwhile, Coldwater Creek Inc. had the weakest performance of the 14 companies last year, with a decline of 84 percent in value. The troubled Sandpoint-based retail company’s stock price decreased to 75 cents a share on Dec. 31 from $4.81 a share a year earlier.

For the Inland Northwest Index, Hart Capital uses a methodology similar to that of the S&P 500 to track companies’ stock value. Sterling will drop off the index soon, with Portland-based Umpqua Holdings Corp.’s earlier announced acquisition of Sterling that’s expected to wrap up by this spring.

For the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, the regional index rose 8.3 percent, while the S&P 500 increased 9.9 percent. Ambassador’s Group Inc., Idaho Independent Bank, and Sterling had the strongest fourth-quarter performance, with their stock values rising about 35 percent, 31 percent, and 19 percent, respectively.

During the recent quarter, Coldwater Creek had a loss in value of 56 percent, as it faces ongoing challenges in a highly competitive retail industry, Hart Capital says. 

With Coeur Mining Inc.’s move last year from Coeur d’Alene to Chicago, that company wasn’t included during the past two quarters in the index report. Coeur also wasn’t in Hart Capital’s Inland Northwest Composite report that tracks aggregate market value, or capitalization, which is share price multiplied by the number of outstanding shares.

The composite totaled $10.2 billion as of Dec. 31, compared with $11.8 billion a year earlier. As a result of Coeur’s departure, the composite declined $1.54 billion, or 13 percent, from the end of 2012. Without considering Coeur’s removal, the composite rose $664 million, or nearly 7 percent. 

For the fourth quarter of 2013, the composite rose $576 million, or 6 percent.

Hart Capital, which is located at 601 W. Main in downtown Spokane, is a privately owned wealth and asset management investment firm with clients located around the Inland Northwest. It started issuing its quarterly Inland Northwest index and composite report in 2006.

The other companies that Hart Capital tracks include Avista Corp., Itron Inc., Clearwater Paper Corp., Hecla Mining Co., Key Tronic Corp., WTB Financial Corp., Northwest Bancorp., Potlatch Corp., and Red Lion Hotels Corp.