ValueClick Jumps After Upgrade and New Coverage
Monday, March 18, 2013Shares of ValueClick Inc. rose more than 8 percent Monday after one analyst upgraded the stock and another initiated coverage with a “buy” rating.
The Westlake Village company, which distributes and tracks online advertisements, was upgraded Friday by analyst Brian Fitzgerald at Jefferies & Co. Fitzgerald switched his rating to “buy” from “hold” and raised his target price to $35 a share from $23.
Then on Monday, Lake Street Capital initiated coverage of the company with a “buy” rating and a target price of $40.
“While shares of ValueClick have seen a nice rise recently, we believe investors still underappreciate the uniqueness of the company’s affiliate marketing and ad retargeting assets,” Lake Street analyst Eric Martinuzzi wrote in a note to investors.
Both analysts noted that ValueClick has a database of 200 million web users that will give the company an advantage as more Internet use shifts to mobile phones and tablet devices.
Shares of ValueClick closed at $30.12, an increase of $2.37 or 8.5 percent Monday in trading on the Nasdaq.
