Anyone who has ever tried to create a basic website knows how complex an undertaking that can be. Imagine the experience needed to generate an entire online campus! There is an outfit in Chicago that does it all the time.

eCollege (NASDAQ:ECLG) builds and supports online degree and certificate/diploma programs, complete with computer-based courses, testing, online registration and other student services. Customers include publicly traded for-profit institutions, community colleges, public and private universities, school districts and state departments of education. The firm also has corporate clients, who use its services to build online training courses for employees.

The firm pleased investors last month, when it reported solid Q4 results and reaffirmed Q1 guidance. Piper Jaffray kept an "outperform" rating and raised its price target from $20 to $23. ThinkEquity Partners said the company is well positioned in a high-growth industry and continues to secure new, large contracts. Shares subsequently rose into a bullish "flag" consolidation pattern. Prices 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 one "strong buy," three "buys," two "holds" and one "sell." Analysts see a 37% growth rate, through the next year. The ECLG Price to Book ratio (4.22), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (26.91), Sales Growth rate (26.02%) and Operating Margin (23.49%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutions own about 80% of the outstanding shares. Over the past twelve months, ECLG has traded between $10.96 and $25.73. A stop-loss of $16.20 looks good here.

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

eCollege: helping institutions bring school to you originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.