UPDATE 1-Piper Jaffray raises ATS Medical to overweight

BANGALORE Nov 3 (Reuters) - Piper Jaffray upgraded ATS Medical Inc ATSI.O to "overweight" from "neutral," citing the cardiac device maker's growth prospects and valuation.

Shares of ATS Medical rose as much as 8 percent to $2.97, before paring some gains to trade up 6 percent at $2.91 Tuesday morning on Nasdaq.

"Given the company's top-line growth prospects (of 13 percent to 15 percent) and exciting new technologies in development, we think the company should trade at a premium," Piper Jaffray analyst Timothy Lee said.

Lee raised his price target on the stock to $4.00 from $3.50.

Natixis Bleichroeder analyst Joshua Zable said the full-market launch of the company's 3f Aortic Tissue Valve should also give a boost to its growth profile in the long term.

"Given the continuing expansion of ATS Medical's near and longer-term pipeline, we believe ATS may well find itself a target of larger industry players going forward," Stifel Nicolaus analyst Gregory Simpson said.

On Monday, the company posted a quarterly loss that was in line with market view, and revenue that edged past analysts' estimates. It kept its 2009 sales view at $77 million to $79 million. [ID:nWNAB8527] (Reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)