S & P Dow Jones Indices just announced a rule change to its index inclusion criteria, opening the door for a host of companies whose stocks have multiple share classes to possibly join the benchmark indexes. The index manager on Monday revised its class eligibility rules for the S & P indices, and will now once again consider companies with multiple share class structures. The change applies to the S & P Composite 1500 Index and its components, including the S & P 500 , the world’s largest stock benchmark and the one with the widest following. Being added to one of the prestigious benchmarks comes with measurable benefits. It forces buying from every passive index fund manager whose fund tracks the S & P 500, S & P Midcap 400 or Smallcap 600, boosting the stock price in the short term. More intangibly, it also grants blue-chip status. Dell is one of the newly eligible companies with more than one share class. Evercore ISI is bullish on the prospect for inclusion in the S & P 500. “This is a considerable positive for Dell which had previously been excluded from the S & P 500 for its share class structure,” Evercore ICI said in a note. “We think this inclusion will broaden the scope of potential investors for Dell.” Alternative asset managers Ares Management and Blackstone have also became eligible for S & P 500 inclusion. Bank of America analysts said the pair could be added sooner than expected. “BX is one of the 100 largest companies by market cap in the U.S., but the index has zero exposure to the alternative asset managers,” Bank of America analysts said. “Excluding BX from the S & P 500 has hurt the index’s performance… and BX also yields a dividend that is ~2x the average S & P 500 company.” Other possible additions include Airbnb , Lululemon , Trade Desk and Tradeweb Markets , according to JPMorgan trading desk. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
