For most moms, a traditional Mother s Day present could mean flowers, a card or a celebratory brunch. But for one select group, a different kind of gift might be more welcome: a better share price.

We re talking, of course, about America s CEO moms. These women helm some of the biggest companies in the world. Over a dozen of the blue chips in the S&P 500 are run by women of which many are mothers, too. That s a direct result of an increase in women breaking through the corporate glass ceiling. The corner office is still largely a boy's club, but according to Catalyst, a nonprofit organization that works to expand opportunities for women and business, women occupied 15.7% of the corporate officer positions at Fortune 500 companies in 2008. By comparison, in 1995 fewer than 9% of those jobs were held by women.

Read about Yahoo's Carol Bartz and 4 other CEOs who will be celebrating Mother's Day

Furthermore, Dr. Lawrence Pfaff, founder of Pfaff & Associates, a human resources consulting firm in Portage, Mich., conducted a five-year gender study comprised of nearly 2,500 mangers from more than 450 organizations across 19 states. Not only did he find that female managers are better at the so-called softer skills of communication, teamwork, feedback and empowerment, they're also more decisive, better at setting goals, planning and facilitating change -- abilities traditionally ascribed to men.

"Most of the women CEOs that we know of have typically done a darn good job," Pfaff says. " It's very hard to think of any who were huge, massive failures. It's pretty easy to come up with a list of men who were."

Whether a company is run by a mom or dad isn't an overriding reason to invest in it. However, in light of Mother's Day we thought we'd take a look at some of the most impressive mothers in corporate America and how their businesses and share prices are faring. Here, then, are five of the biggest moms in business.

Weathering the recession well

CEO: Irene Rosenfeld, 55, mother of two

in 2006, added the chairmanship in 2007 when Kraft was spun off from corporate parent Altria (MO). Kraft beat Wall Street earnings estimates for its first quarter earlier this month posting 10% growth from a year ago. While it's not recession-proof, Kraft has benefited from a decrease in restaurant dining more than it's been hurt by food shoppers trading down to store brands. Shares are trading at deep discounts to peers, the market and the stock's own five-year averages on both a trailing and forward earnings basis, according to Thomson Reuters. "Kraft's strategy of better aligning its costs with its pricing is working well," Morningstar analyst Erin Swanson recently wrote.

Staving off Microsoft at least for now

CEO: Carol Bartz, 51, mother of three

The former chief executive of Autodesk (ADSK) oversaw that company's rise to domination in the world of 3D design software for everything from engineering to architecture to videogame development. Under her leadership Autodesk's stock shot from about $5 in 1992 to near $40 in 2006. Whether Bartz can work that same magic at Yahoo ( remains to be seen, having only taken the top job at the troubled Internet company in January. Though it's early in her tenure, she's already gained credit from the Street for aggressively cutting costs. Shares have jumped nearly 20% year to date. If Bartz can strike a deal or partnership with Microsoft (MSFT) in the online search business, investors could get a lot more upside surprise. "It s too early to judge the CEO of a large-cap company after just a few months on the job," says Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal, but he agrees the market appears to approve of her leadership thus far.

Feeding cash-strapped consumers

CEO: Indra Nooyi, 54, mother of two

in 1994, was named chief financial officer in 2001 and ascended to the corner office of the food and beverage behemoth in 2006. During her career at Pepsi, Nooyi has been instrumental in a restructuring that included spinning off Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut into Yum Brands (YUM), the acquisition of Tropicana and the merger with Quaker Oats. A stronger dollar hurt revenue in the most recent quarter but earnings still beat the Street estimate by a solid four cents a share. Now, she is trying to buy the company s largest bottlers for $6 billion. Damian Witkowski, an analyst with Gabelli & Co., cut his rating on the stock to Hold from Buy recently over concern that the beverage business, and Gatorade in particular, is losing ground to competitors heading into the all-important summer months. "It's still a great company and has great brands," he says. Shares are trading at deep discounts on a forward and trailing earnings basis vs. peers, the market and Pepsi's own five-year average, according to Thomson Reuters.

Storied firm gets new leader

CEO Ellen Kullman, 53, mother of three

, which she joined in 1988, working her way through the company's medical imaging business to larger roles, becoming president and director of the company in October 2008. That prompted her to step down from the General Motors (GM) board of directors, which she joined in 2004. DuPont appears to be weathering a demand downturn fairly well, though it's also doing layoffs to keep costs down and its stock up. A pickup in global demand will help its early cyclical position, and its conglomerate style diversity will present more growth opportunities. It beat Street estimates by two cents a share when it reported earnings late last month, and should be a dominant player in an economic recovery.

Commodity play waits for a recovery

CEO: Patricia Woertz, 56, mother of three

CEO began in 2006 as accelerating ethanol demand powered corn-based profits for the agricultural giant. She arrived at the top spot after a long stretch with Chevron (CVX), but the move from oil to agricultural commodities happened at the right time, and netted her a $4.2 million compensation package her first year on the job. The end of surging growth in emerging markets and plunges in commodity prices have made ADM a volatile stock through the latest crisis. But commodity demand appears poised for reacceleration and Woertz used past crises to great effect at Chevron. That could lead to highly improved results at ADM. Shares, which are off about 15% year to date, are trading at discounts of more than 50% on a trailing and forward earnings basis vs. peers, the market and ADM's own five-year averages, according to Thomson Reuters. That's a compelling valuation for an early cycle stock -- if the second-half recovery transpires as expected.