Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., Guangshen Railway...

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., Guangshen Railway Co. Ltd., Max Capital Group Ltd., Famous Dave's of America Inc. and MIPS Technologies Inc.

CHICAGO--(Business Wire)--
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: Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc.
(NYSE: MMC), Guangshen Railway Co. Ltd. (NYSE: GSH), Max Capital Group
Ltd. (Nasdaq: MXGL), Famous Dave's of America Inc. (Nasdaq: DAVE) and
MIPS Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPS).

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Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:

Marsh & McLennan Stays on Hold

Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc.'s (NYSE: MMC) first-quarter
operating earnings from continuing operations (excluding the goodwill
impairment charge) came in at 41 cents per diluted share, compared to
47 cents in the prior-year quarter.

While the consulting business continues to exhibit strong
performance, the overall results have been affected in recent quarters
by the ongoing poor performance in the insurance brokering business.
While we are optimistic about initiatives being taken by the new
Management team, we do not anticipate any significant improvement
anytime soon, due to the current pricing environment.

Guangshen Chugs Along

Guangshen Railway Company (NYSE: GSH) announced strong growth in
revenue and assets for 2007 due to the acquisition of railway
transportation assets from the Guangping Line. However, the company's
first quarter profits declined due to higher costs and lower revenue,
resulting from abnormal weather.

Although the company is well-positioned to leverage the railway
growth opportunity in China, especially in Guangdong province, the
government's price regulation for railway transportation would
negatively affect the company's earnings when its costs increase.
Overall, we are maintaining Hold rating on the stock.

MXGL Facing Competitive Pressures

Max Capital Group Ltd. (Nasdaq: MXGL) will release its 2Q08
results on Aug 4, 2008 with a conference call scheduled the next day.
Core 1Q08 results were 13 cents per share below our expectations.

Given the softening premium rates and increased competition, we
expect a downward pressure on the company's property and casualty
reinsurance premium volume. Therefore, we maintain our Hold rating on
the shares of this company.

DAVE's Risks Overshadow Discount

In our view, Famous Dave's of America (Nasdaq: DAVE) has the
potential to grow earnings at a compound average annual rate of 20%
over the next five years. It can achieve this by growing units at an
average rate of 15% annually, increasing same-store sales at a rate of
2% to 5% per year through price increases and rising unit volumes,
leveraging G&A expenses, and repurchasing shares.

However, while we think the stock is cheap relative to its growth
rate, in our opinion the discount does not compensate for its inherent
risks at this time. Famous Dave's is aggressively expanding at a time
when falling traffic and rising costs are squeezing profit margins,
leaving the stock particularly vulnerable to earnings shortfalls. We
would wait to see improvement in comps of the franchise system before
buying the stock.

Acquisition Will Drive Margin for MIPS

MIPS Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPS) develops embedded processors
and intellectual property for use in performance-oriented markets,
such as digital entertainment, wired and wireless communications
(including broadband access), office automation, security, and
automotive markets.

March quarter top and bottom line results were split with EPS
beating the consensus but revenue missing. The firm just completed an
acquisition of Chipidea for $147 million in cash. As spending picks up
and Chipidea ramps, the firm should emerge as a much stronger force
with top line and bottom line improvement. We have a buy rating on the
shares.

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