Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Health Grades, Polycom, Cisco Systems and Big 5 Sporting Goods.CHICAGO -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day, the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Health Grades (Nasdaq: HGRD), Polycom (Nasdaq: PLCM PLCM Product Life-Cycle Management PLCM public long code mask PLCM Public Land Code Mask ), Cisco Systems “Cisco” redirects here. For other uses, see Cisco (disambiguation). Cisco System,Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO, HKSE: 4333 ) is an American multinational corporation with 54,000 employees and annual revenue of US $28.48 billion as of 2006. (Nasdaq: CSCO CSCO Cisco Systems Incorporated (stock symbol) CSCO Chief Supply Chain Officer ) and Big 5 Sporting Goods Big 5 Sporting Goods (NASDAQ: BGFV) is a sporting goods retailer headquartered in El Segundo, California with 344 stores in 10 western states. Steven G. Miller is the Chairman, President, and CEO. (Nasdaq: BGFV). See the latest posts to the Analyst Blog by visiting: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2673 Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog: Initiating a Buy on HGRD Health Grades (Nasdaq: HGRD) is a first mover in the consumer-directed health care movement with a quality-of-care information and rating system of health care providers. Its highly profitable business model presents an attractive play on repair of the beleaguered be·lea·guer tr.v. be·lea·guered, be·lea·guer·ing, be·lea·guers 1. To harass; beset: We are beleaguered by problems. 2. To surround with troops; besiege. health care industry. Over 5,000 hospitals, 620,000 physicians and 16,000 nursing homes across the U.S. are rated along a proprietary system following key medical issues. Health Grades products are marketed to consumers, providers and payers of health care services. Polycom Looks Promising We are reinitiating coverage of Polycom (Nasdaq: PLCM), a leading provider of video conferencing See videoconferencing. (communications) video conferencing - A discussion between two or more groups of people who are in different places but can see and hear each other using electronic communications. solutions. Third-quarter revenues were up 20% from the prior year, but earnings remained flat, even with a reduced number of shares outstanding. Even though PLCM has a partnership with Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), we are cautious about the longevity of the relationship based on Cisco's recent announcement to broaden video conferencing solutions and applications. However, business remains promising for Polycom, as it has several other partners and continues to lead the audio and video conferencing segment. The company is expected to benefit from strong worldwide demand for Voice- and Video-over-Internet protocol communications. Initiating Big 5 a Hold We are initiating coverage of Big 5 Sporting Goods (Nasdaq: BGFV) with a Hold rating. The factors in the company's favor are its profitable store model, consistent comp-store sales performance, and store expansion plans. However, these positive factors are offset by the company's ongoing legal issues and difficult competitive environment. Moreover, the stock's valuation is reasonable and offers limited upside Upside The potential dollar amount by which the market or a stock could rise. Notes: This is basically an educated guess on how high a stock could go in the near future. See also: Bull, Downside from current levels. We expect BGFV shares to match the return of the overall market for the next six months. See the latest posts to the Analyst Blog by visiting http://at.zacks.com/?id=2645 About Zacks Equity Research Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis Qualitative Analysis Securities analysis that uses subjective judgment based on nonquantifiable information, such as management expertise, industry cycles, strength of research and development, and labor relations. to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term. Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons. Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. 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