SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 23, 1999 (PRIMEZONE) -- First Security Van Kasper water analyst Neil Berlant today initiated coverage of Osmonics, Inc. (NYSE:OSM) with a STRONG BUY rating and a 12-month price target of $15. Berlant projects Osmonics' earnings per share to grow to $0.57 in 1999 from $0.46 in 1998, and to $0.68 per share for 2000.
Osmonics designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of products used to filter and purify liquids. Founded in 1969, the company helped pioneer the commercial development of reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration technologies. Today, Osmonics provides one of the broadest lines of products and services addressing fluid purity in the marketplace.
"The company has been through a period of transition and significant re-engineering, positioning itself to enter a period of accelerating growth," said Berlant. "With the company's position as a major component supplier and its' substantially discounted valuations relative to its peers, we believe Osmonics will become a major beneficiary of the anticipated boom in desalination activity."
First Security Van Kasper, founded in 1978, is an investment banking, private client and institutional brokerage firm with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Fresno, Walnut Creek, Sacramento, San Diego and Newport Beach, California and Phoenix, Arizona. Last year, the company became a subsidiary of Salt Lake City-based First Security Corporation (Nasdaq:FSCO), the second largest independent bank holding company in the West, with more than $20 billion in assets.
First Security Van Kasper is ranked among the top West Coast firms in terms of number of transactions and total dollars raised in public offerings of common stock, convertible securities and fixed-income instruments. The firm also places securities privately, advises clients on merger and acquisition transactions and performs valuation services. Through its investment management subsidiary, Van Kasper Advisors, the company manages assets for corporations, retirement plans, trusts, fiduciaries, financial institutions and individuals. For more information about First Security Van Kasper, the upcoming growth stock conference, please visit the company's Web site at www.fsvk.com.