14:45 DJ =Claremont Tech Dn 11%;Friedman Cuts Due To Combined Factors
By Ted W. Kemp
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of Claremont Technology Group Inc. (CLMT)
matched their 52-week low Tuesday, stumbling as much as 11.9% in their
fourth-consecutive daily drop.
Analysts were unable to pinpoint a reason for the shares' descent, though analyst Richard Leggett of Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. downgraded the Beaverton, Ore., provider of information-technology software, to accumulate from buy Tuesday, citing operational concerns.
In a research note, Leggett cited cash and account management issues, the possibility of changes in the company's senior management ranks, and an increase in Claremont's employee-turnover rate, to 29% in the first quarter ended September from 22% in the previous quarter.
The analyst told Dow Jones he also sees indications of a possible growth slowdown in the company's communications practice group, which represents about 22% of Claremont's revenue.
Claremont shares hovered near their intraday low of 13, down 1 3/4, before the Friedman Billings downgrade issued around midday.
Leggett emphasized that the operational concerns are "manageable" when taken separately, and his uncertainty about Claremont's near-term outlook is based on the combination of several issues persisting at roughly the same time. "I expect the management team will respond to the operational challenges," Leggett told Dow Jones.
Leggett maintained his fiscal second-quarter earnings estimate of 14 cents a share on revenue of $23 million. Market sources said Claremont will report earnings on Jan. 21.
Claremont recently was changing hands at 13 1/16, down 1 11/16, or 11.4%, on Nasdaq volume of 240,200 shares, compared with average daily volume of 62,300. The shares closed at 14 3/4 on Monday, a decline of 2 1/8, or 12.6%. The shares had also fallen in the previous two sessions, although not as steeply. On Jan. 2, the shares closed at 19. The stock set its 52-week low of 13 in July.
Company officials were not immediately available for comment. |
