From Barron's 6-25-07: Buy - Price 27.41 on June 19 by McAdams Wright Ragen "We [recently] resumed coverage of ALK with Buy and 35 [target]. With shares having sold off more than 40% from last year's highs, we feel a large portion of recent negative developments are reflected in the airline's stock price. Investors seem uneasy with fundamental turbulence that includes: Moderating demand; ticket-pricing sustainability; competition on West Coast routes; greater fuel-cost exposure; and pilot-contract negotiations. At the same time, Alaska's cost structure, excluding fuel, has seen improvement. An all-737 mainline fleet by the end of 2008 should reduce fuel and maintenance expenses while providing greater long-term earnings leverage tied to higher-gauge aircraft. Tough quarters may still be in store, [but] these entry points merit consideration...We view the idea as suitable for accounts willing to accommodate higher risk."

From Barron's 6-25-07: Buy - Price 8.45 on June 19 by Sterne Agee "Gaming revenue showed a 25% increase in Central City, Colo. This is the third consecutive month of 20+% increases for that market, driven by CNTY property there. We continue to believe the stock does not adequately reflect the prospects for this property and think margins could reach 30% in second quarter. Our 13 target is based on the shares selling at 9 times our 2008 Ebitda [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] estimate, assuming no debt."

From Barron's 6-25-07: Outperform - Price 16.70 on June 18 by Cowen & Co. "Reiterating Outperform, as we believe CC's valuation remains attractive at just 7 times fiscal-year '08 estimated enterprise value/Ebitda, a 7% [free-cash-flow] yield, and $4/share in cash or about 25% of its market cap. While we're encouraged by CC's recent restructuring measures, we believe store productivity remains a central, and as yet incomplete, element of CC's turnaround story. Infrastructure investments, services, and store-level employee adjustments should help [long term]. These initiatives, however, must progress quickly to benefit the critical second-half fiscal '08...we look for further updates on the CFO search. We maintain our FY08 and FY09 EPS estimates of 53 cents and 67 cents, respectively."

From Barron's 6-25-07: Buy - Price 30.00 on June 18 by Oppenheimer & Co. "2Q net-interest margin of 5% appears likely, relatively stable [versus] 5.03% level of 1Q. 2Q loan growth likely slowing, due to a high level of loan prepayment activity. While we anticipate that loans outstanding will increase on a linked-quarter basis, we believe the slowdown in construction of commercial structures such as professional office buildings and strip malls is correlated to slowdown in new housing construction. Land acquisition/development...accounted for 55% of total loans outstanding. Improved 2Q operating efficiencies [expected]. Lowering target to 36 from 38, which is achievable by applying current 3.1 times multiple on 1Q07 tangible book value per share ($9.75) to projected 4Q07 tangible book value of $12.11, results in an implied forward share price of $35.68."

From Barron's 6-25-07: Outperform/Speculative - Price 36.54 on June 18 by Morgan Keegan "HERO announced a small acquisition of a 200' international liftboat for...about $10 million...Fleet-status update shows continued U.S. Gulf jackup choppiness with three idle rigs. Adjusting 2007/2008 earnings per share to $4.13/$5.17 from $4.30/$5.16, as we build in the lower rig utilization [and] cash spend on the acquisition [which] is modestly accretive and expands international presence...we like where supply-demand fundamentals are heading...despite earnings cut, [we are] still buyers, given cash-generating capabilities and new scale of the combined HERO-Todco entity...[Our view:] HERO remains undervalued, given its position 37% below the offshore driller relative-value trend line...based on our forward-four-quarters estimated [return on invested capital] of 62%, we'd estimate HERO to be fairly valued in the high $40[s] range, with potential upside to mid-$60[s] level, applying the 10-year median slope."

From Barron's 6-25-07: Buy - Price 23.99 on June 19 by Punk, Ziegel & Co. "Driven by favorable market trends and events, with the most innovative product offering of bare platinum and bioactive endovascular [aneurysm-occluding] coils, MEND's business is going through hyper-growth...As a consequence, MEND is positioned as the second player (behind Boston Scientific) in a $500 million worldwide market, growing at an annual rate of 20%. MEND's market share in the U.S. coil market is approximately 30%...Initiating coverage with 31 target. Our valuation is based on a 5.5 times multiple on our FY 2008 revenue estimate of $85.9 million. After [greater than] 100% appreciation in last 12 months, we expect MEND shares to continue appreciating, although at a slower rate, as growth continues in spite of [rivals'] new product launches and Cordis' return to market. Market cap: $367 million."

From Barron's 6-25-07: Buy - Price 17.97 on June 18 by Maxim Group "Shares of [medical-device maker] SMTS are currently trading below both our fair-value estimate of 27 and 12-month target of 30, which we derive using a blended [discounted-cash-flow] and sum-of-the-parts analysis."

From Barron's 6-25-07: Underperform - Price 22.94 on June 19 by Wachovia "Tyson announced [last week] it will produce all of its branded fresh chicken without the use of antibiotics and will concurrently shift its packaging and marketing to reflect the conversion. This is an opportunistic move into a more-highly-demanded segment of the chicken industry (91% of consumers view "without antibiotics" as important, according to the company)...We expect consumers to absorb much of the increased costs...The press release suggests Tyson's converted fresh chicken will be priced "substantially less than the premium...charged by most competing niche brands." Currently, niche brands sell for a roughly $1.50 to $2 premium to conventional chicken, leaving ample space for price competition. Fresh chicken is less than 10% of total company sales. While not a key driver of consolidated results, [it is] one more step along Tyson's value-added strategy (roughly 45% of sales are value-added, and mostly chicken)...we think valuation, 13.4 times LTM [long-term mean] Ebitda, already more than reflects the marginal positive impact of this good (yawn) news."