Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE: ARO) beat profit expectations as revenue and same-store sales both increased.
• Aruba Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN) received an analyst's upgrade following its Q3 report.
• Buckle Inc. (NYSE: BKE) reported better-than-expected Q1 expectations as revenue surged.
• Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) higher Q2 earnings beat expectations and sent shares upward.
• Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings, sending shares higher.

While much of the attention was on the upside surprise offered up by Lowe's Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW), Hastings Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: HAST) and Perfect World Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: PWRD) also reported beating earnings expectations Monday.

Leading multimedia entertainment retailer Hastings reported that, for the three months ended April 30, it earned about $1.7 million, or $0.17 per diluted share. That compares to a profit of $0.28 per share a year ago, as well as to $0.13 per share forecast by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. First-quarter revenue decreased 4.7% from a year ago to $125.7 million.

Take it Private! is a new series looking at one company each week that, in my opinion, has no reason for being public. To find these companies, I screen for the following:

• High Insider Ownership
• A History of Solid Profitability
• A paltry Price/Earnings and/or Price/Cash Flow multiple, and a reasonable Price/Book ratio.
  
• A stagnant stock price accompanied by low volume indicating a lack of interest in the stock

My purpose in highlighting these companies? This screen can be a good way to find deep value stocks, especially companies that may be attractive to a strategic buyer, private equity firm or management-led buyout at a premium to the current share price. However, these profiles should not be interpreted as a recommendation to buy a certain stock.

For the inaugural column, let's take a look at Hastings Entertainment (NASDAQ: HAST).

According to Hastings' latest proxy statement, the company's current directors and officers own 33.91% of the company's stock. Chairman and CEO John Marmaduke alone owns 29% of the company. So Hastings definitely meets the first test: high insider ownership.