Six Richmond-area companies make the Fortune 500

“There are a lot of communities that would like to have that many,” said Kim Scheeler, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Richmond Chamber. “Companies tend to return more resources to their headquarters communities.”

The order in which the Richmond-area companies rank did not change from last year to this year. But five of the six companies dropped in the rankings.

“The six Fortune 500 companies have been consistent over the last several years, even through recessionary times, although some have lost placement within the top 500,” said Greg Wingfield, president and chief executive of the Greater Richmond Partnership, a regional economic development agency.

Only CarMax Inc. moved higher in the local rankings. The Goochland County-based automobile retailer jumped nearly 20 spots from No. 259 in 2013 to No. 240 this year, as the company posted revenue growth of 9.6 percent for the fiscal year that ended Feb. 28, 2013.

Tobacco giant Altria Group Inc. remained the highest-ranked local company on the list at No. 161, down just a few notches from No. 159 in 2013.

Henrico County-based Altria is the parent company of the top U.S. cigarette maker, Philip Morris USA. It also owns cigar, smokeless tobacco and wine businesses. For fiscal 2014, the company’s revenue rose just short of 1 percent to $17.7 billion.

Richmond-based utility and energy company Dominion Resources was the second highest ranked local company on the list, dropping a few notches from No. 210 in 2013 to No. 212 this year.

The Richmond area has not been home to more than six companies on the Fortune 500 since 2009, when there were seven.

The region had eight local Fortune 500s in 2008, but that was before consumer electronics retailer Circuit City Stores Inc. went out of business and Goochland County-based Performance Food Group Inc. became privately held.

Wingfield noted the region has several companies that are on the Fortune 1,000 list that could move into the 500 list next year.

Twenty-two companies with headquarters in Virginia made the Fortune 500 this year, one fewer than in 2013.

The highest ranked Virginia-based company is the mortgage servicer Freddie Mac at No. 32, with revenue of $81.2 billion, followed by defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. at No. 99.

On the overall Fortune 500, retail giant Walmart kept the No. 1 spot, edging out oil company Exxon Mobil for the second year in a row.

For the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31, revenue at Walmart rose 1.5 percent to $476.3 billion.

Exxon Mobil’s revenue was down 9.4 percent to $407.7 billion.

Altria Group Inc.

Rank: 161

Previous rank: 159

Revenue: $17.663 billion

CEO: Martin J. Barrington

Dominion Resources Inc.

Rank: 212

Previous rank: 210

Revenue: $13.424 billion

CEO: Thomas F. Farrell II

CarMax Inc.

Rank: 240

Previous rank: 259

Revenue: $11.458 billion

(For fiscal year ended Feb. 28, 2013)

CEO: Thomas J. Folliard

Genworth Financial Inc.

Rank: 291

Previous rank: 271

Revenue: $9.614 billion

CEO: Thomas J. McInerney

MeadWestvaco Corp.

Rank: 457

Previous rank: 448

Revenue: $5.543 billion

CEO: John A. Luke Jr.

Owens & Minor Inc.

Rank: 303

Previous rank: 297

Revenue: $9.072 billion

CEO: Craig R. Smith