Hart Capital Management Inc., of Spokane, says the composite value of the 10 publicly traded Inland Northwest companies dipped slightly to $10.8 billion in the first quarter of 2017, a decrease of $79 million, or 2 percent, from the previous quarter.

The decline snaps a streak of five straight quarters in which the composite increased from the previous quarter.

Hart Capital tracks the performance of publicly traded companies in the region with its composite and its Inland Northwest Index. 

During the first quarter, Hart Capital says, five of the 10 tracked companies experienced an increase in market capitalization, which compares with seven of the 10 having quarter-to-quarter market cap increases in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Spokane-based Potlatch Corp. led the group with a $165 million, or 10 percent, increase in market capitalization. WTB Financial Corp., the Spokane-based parent of Washington Trust Bank, saw a $46 million composite increase, and Coeur d’Alene-based Hecla Mining showed a $21.7 million rise in market capitalization.

Hart Capital’s Inland Northwest Index, which tracks companies in a methodology similar that of the S&P 500, dipped to 290.5 in the first quarter, from 295.4 in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Northwest Bancorporation Inc., the Spokane-based parent of Inland Northwest Bank, led the quarterly index with a 14 percent increase in stock price over the fourth quarter, Hart Capital says.

“The company’s strong performance was mainly attributed to rising interest rates throughout the quarter and the expectation that the banking sector will experience stronger profitability from this trend,” it says in a press release.

The company’s stock price also moved up following a March 23 announcement that the company had agreed to acquire CenterPointe Community Bank, of Hood River, Ore., which had $131.1 million in total assets as of the end of last year.

Hart Capital is best known regionally for a focus on investment planning and portfolio management. Last year, Craig Hart, the investment firm’s president and chief investment officer, told the Journal the firm has been expanding its list of client services to include financial, retirement, estate planning, Social Security analysis, 401(k) and IRA distribution, and management of funds for life events such as divorce or inheritance.

Now 18 years old, the firm last year opened an office in Coeur d’Alene. In all, Hart Capital has 300 clients and manages assets exceeding $300 million, Hart says.