Nine St. Louis area companies remain on the Fortune 500 list and they are the same employers who made the rankings last year. But there have been some changes in where the companies now stand in the publication’s annual tally based on fiscal year revenue.
The biggest mover is health insurance provider and manger Centene Corporation. It jumped more than 60 spots to number 124.
Centene recently completed a $6.3 billion merger with California-based Health Net. The combination has created the largest Medicaid plan provider in the country. It has more than 10 million members throughout the country.
The steepest decline among St. Louis-area employers belongs to Peabody Energy. It dropped more than 60 positions to number 458. The coal mining company has been going through a very rough period as the industry deals with a massive downturn. Peabody filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year and has been working its way through the process.
Some of the most well-known employers in the region are on the list, including Express Scripts, Ameren and Emerson.
Ten Missouri companies are on the list. Springfield-based O’Reilly Automotive is the only one not headquartered in the St. Louis area.
Fortune ranks the companies based on total fiscal year revenues. It includes companies incorporated and operating in the U.S. and also file statements with a government agency. That includes private companies that submit comparable financial statements to publicly-traded employers.
Overall, Walmart tops this year’s list, followed by Exxon Mobil and Apple.
