TNS Corp.'s stock price rose Friday morning after the Reston, Va., provider of telecommunication services to transaction processors received a positive note from Chris Penny, an analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. Inc.
"After a disastrous year-and-a-half (from the stockholders' perspective), this company is clearly showing signs of strong operational and financial health," and revenue from its telecom and point-of-sale operations could grow, Mr. Penny wrote in a research note published Friday.
TNS also moved into a new area last week by purchasing Dialect Payment Technologies, an Australian provider of card-not-present processing software.
Mr. Penny put an $18 price target on TNS' stock and reiterated his "outperform" rating.
"We believe over the coming quarters, investors will start to see the opportunities for TNS lie well beyond its traditional dial-up point-of-sale product. With the stock valued as a true value play, we believe there is good upside," he wrote.
By midday Friday, TNS' shares had risen 0.58% from Thursday's close, to $13.99.
