All Star Analysts Portfolio Highlights: Host Marriott Corporation, Essex Corporation, Kohl's Corporation and Target Corporation.

CHICAGO -- Zacks.com just released its latest additions and deletions to its proprietary All Star Analyst portfolio. Members on this exclusive list include Host Marriott Corporation (NYSE:HMT), Essex Corporation (NASDAQ:KEYW), Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS) and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT). View the entire list of stocks on the All Star Analyst portfolio at http://at.zacks.com/?id=510

This exclusive portfolio represents all stocks with a Strong Buy rating from at least four analysts with a 5-Star All Star ranking. These are the brokerage analysts whose stock recommendations proved to be the most profitable for investors. Since July 2002, this portfolio has generated an annualized return of 12.92%, exceeding the S&P 500 by a margin of more than 50%. Here is a synopsis of why these stocks are in the All Star Analysts Portfolio:

Host Marriott Corporation (NYSE:HMT) announced earlier this week that it completed the acquisition of 28 hotels from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. The two companies agreed to defer the purchase of two hotels located in Fiji because of certain notice periods and approvals that have not yet lapsed or been received. Host Marriott also expects to complete the purchase of four more hotels from Starwood located in Europe and of The Westin Europa & Regina in Venice, Italy. Host Marriott, which remains one of the All Stars' favorite names in the industry, also announced that it will change its name to Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. on Apr 17, 2006, and will begin trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol HST on Apr 18, 2006.

Essex Corporation (NASDAQ:KEYW) provides advanced signal, image, information processing, information assurance and cyber-security solutions. In mid-March, Essex posted fourth quarter earnings per share of 13 cents on revenues of $50 million. The earnings result matched the consensus while surging past the year-ago performance of five cents. Meanwhile, revenues jumped 163% from $19 million in the fourth quarter 2004. For fiscal 2005, earnings per share advanced to 38 cents from 13 cents in fiscal 2004, while revenues increased to $159.8 million $70.5 million. For 2006, Essex intends to execute on its strategy that includes organic growth, internal investment and acquisitions.

Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS) operates family oriented, specialty department stores that feature quality, national brand merchandise priced to provide exceptional value to customers. Earlier this month, the company announced that sales for the month of March advanced 12.7% to approximately $1.23 billion. Furthermore, same-store sales advanced 3.7%, which was more than what many analysts expected. For the nine weeks ended Apr 1, total sales improved 13.5% and same-store sales rose 3.6%.

Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) recently announced that retail sales for March advanced 8.6% to about $4.79 billion, while same-store sales increased 2.2%. Looking forward to April, Target expects the later Easter this year to significantly benefit its sales results next month. Target remains one of the All Stars' favorite names in retail.

Discover all the current All Star Analyst rankings and top analyst recommendations at http://at.zacks.com/?id=511

About Zacks All Star Analyst Survey

To learn which brokerage analysts are the best in their field and what stocks they're recommending today, see the Zacks All Star Analyst survey. This exclusive survey, created with Fortune Magazine, reveals the "Best-of-Breed" brokerage analysts. They are the select group of winners from the universe of brokerage analysts - the ones who consistently beat the street - the few you should be following now. Visit the Zacks All Star Survey to find the best analysts and their top stock recommendations at http://at.zacks.com/?id=512

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