American Italian Pasta: 'Undiscovered gem'
"In search of a potential bullish play, American Italian Pasta (Nasdaq:AIPC) caught my eye with its steady price action and compelling sentiment backdrop," says Elizabeth Harrow.
The analyst with Schaeffer Investment Research has chosen the stock as her latest "Undiscovered Gem." noting, "Despite its jaw-dropping rally, investors have hardly taken notie of this food firm." Here's her review.
"American Italian Pasta is based in Kansas City, Missouri. The company produces and markets dry pasta products, such as linguine, spaghetti, and macaroni.
"Its brand names include grocery-store stalwart Mueller's, as well as lesser-known brands such as Ronco and Pennsylvania Dutch. AIPC also supplies dry pasta to grocers and warehouse clubs to be marketed under private labels.
"With a market cap of just $460 million, AIPC is a small player on Wall Street. The stock has been around for more than a decade, though, having made its public trading debut back in October 1997.
"AIPC is putting the broader equities market to shame with its impressive price action. The shares have racked up a nearly unbelievable gain of 475% during the past 52 weeks, and they've added 39% in 2009 alone, recently hitting a new 52-week high.
"As a result of this stellar rally, AIPC has outperformed the S&P 500 Index by 49 percentage points during the past 60 trading days. The stock's ascent has been highlighted by staunch support from its 10-week and 20-week moving averages.
"For the past year, AIPC's uptrend has been characterized by periods of sideways price action, followed by quick jumps higher after meeting up with support from this trendline duo. After a recent period of consolidation, the shares look poised to surge.
"Despite its eye-popping advance during the past year, there are surprisingly few AIPC fans on Wall Street. Beginning with option players, it seems that speculative investors haven't yet discovered this surging security.
"Total call and put open interest among near-term options amounts to fewer than 2,200 contracts. If more option traders decide to bet on this outperforming stock, it could translate to fresh buying pressure for the shares.
"As for short sellers, many bearish bettors were forced out of their positions in 2008 in light of the stock's massive gains.
"However, short interest on the shares has crept higher throughout 2009, indicating that skeptics are trying to call a top to AIPC's uptrend. Specifically, the number of AIPC shares sold short ballooned by nearly 18% during the past month.
"These pessimistic positions now account for 5.8% of the equity's available float. If the shares continue to attain new annual highs, short-covering support could provide an additional boost of upward momentum.
"Plus, the stock's ability to weather the recent surge in selling pressure hints at deep-seated technical strength -- and it also indicates that support from its 10-week and 20-week moving averages remains solid.
"In fact, it seems that analysts are the only group who have responded to AIPC's stellar performance with enthusiasm.
"All 3 brokerage firms following the shares consider them a 'strong buy,' according to Zacks. If this under-the-radar equity captures the attention of additional analysts, fresh bullish initiations could draw more buyers to the table."
