Tulsa-based Arena Resources Inc. and Ada-based Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. appear alongside heavyweights on the list of publicly traded companies such as Best Buy Co. Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM, Microsoft Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The award is based on independent DeMarche research, which studies nine fundamentals factors of more than 3,000 U.S. corporations in terms of growth and risk management factors in maintaining shareholder value. Stock price is not used in the analysis, according to the firm.

The program recognizes companies for operating performance that significantly improves shareholder value.

“This designation also underscores our corporate goal to maintain growth while managing risk,” Pre-Paid Legal Services founder and CEO Harland C. Stonecipher said in a written statement.

Pre-Paid provides legal service plans to more than 1.5 million families across the United States and Canada through a network of independent provider law firms. Over the years, the firm also has been named to Forbes’ list of the “Best Small Companies in America” in 2000 and Fortune’s “America’s Fastest Growing Companies” in 1998.

Tulsa-based oil and gas explorer and producer Arena Resources Inc., which also made the list, recently was one of five companies profiled in a CNBC special on the nation’s fastest-growing companies. Arena also appears on Fortune’s list of fastest-growing companies.

The full list is available at www.demarche.com.