Sykes Enterprises (NASDAQ: SYKE) provides outsourced customer contact management services to the business community. It offers technical support and customer service via telephone, e-mail and chat, through centers in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. Sykes also provides large corporations with technical staffing and customer relationship management consulting services. Clients are primarily firms in the communications, technology, financial services, healthcare and transportation industries.

The company pleased investors last week, when it announced Q1 EPS of 38 cents and revenues of $203.7 million. Analysts had been looking 26 cents and $201.6 million. Management also guided Q2 EPS to 29-31 cents (27 cent consensus), Q2 revenues to $205-$210 million ($200.34M consensus), FY08 EPS to $1.24-$1.33 ($1.15 consensus) and FY08 revenues to $815-$830 million ($815.04M consensus). Susquehanna Financial subsequently reiterated its "positive" rating on the shares.

Effectively interfacing with current and potential customers is vital to the success of any firm. Whether it's taking care of credit card holders in Denver, or utility customers in Budapest, there is a Tampa, Florida outfit that knows the ropes and stands ready to facilitate smooth transactions.

Sykes Enterprises (NASDAQ:SYKE) provides outsourced customer contact management services to the business community. It offers technical support and customer service via telephone, e-mail and chat, working through centers in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. Sykes also provides large corporations with technical staffing and customer relationship management consulting services. Clients are primarily firms in the communications, technology, financial services, healthcare and transportation industries.

The company pleased investors earlier in the week, when it announced Q4 EPS of 24 cents (ex-items) and revenues of $158.6 million. Analysts had been looking 21 cents and $154.5 million. Management also guided Q1 EPS to 23-25 cents (18 cent consensus), Q1 revenues to $163-168 million ($150.65M consensus), FY07 EPS to 82-92 cents (85 cent consensus) and FY07 revenues to $645-$675 million ($629.72M consensus). Friedman Billings subsequently upgraded the shares to "outperform" and boosted its price target to $23. The SYKE price jumped through moving average resistance on the news and has since been defining a bullish "flag" consolidation pattern. Stocks frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Altogether, brokers recommend the issue with four "strong buys", two "buys" and four "holds". Recent price targets are generally in the low to middle $20s. Analysts see a twenty percent average annual growth rate, through the next five years. The stock's P/E ratio (18.16), PEG ratio (0.90), Price to Sales ratio (1.44), Price to Book ratio (2.83), Price to Cash Flow ratio (11.73), Return on Assets (11.89%) and Return on Investment (16.04%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages.

Institutional investors hold about 76 percent of the outstanding shares. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 600 SmallCap Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $13.05 and $21.56. A stop-loss of $16.75 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.