Compuware gains on e-commerce plans, analyst comments

Compuware Corp. (Nasdaq: CPWR) shares rose 22 percent Tuesday on bullish coverage from an analyst. The company recently completed its acquisition of BlairLake, which it said will enhance its e-commerce capabilities.

Shares in the software maker were up 4 9/16 to 25 following the news. The stock has taken a fall recently, despite good earnings.

Compuware also provides professional services aimed at increasing the productivity of the information systems, targeting the testing and implementation environment in the mainframe market, and the client/server market.

"Compuware is poised to enjoy the benefits of the e-commerce wave," said J.P. Morgan analyst Sterling Auty, who started coverage of the stock with a "buy" rating, and a price target of $44.

Compuware announced on Thursday that it completed the acquisition of BlairLake, Inc., a privately held provider of Internet consulting and web development services. BlairLake's web developers, information architects and creative personnel will all join Compuware as a result of the acquisition.

Compuware said the acquisition is the first in a series of planned Compuware Digital Development Centers designed to support its e-commerce strategy. The first center will be headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, and will provide services such as web site strategy, conceptualization, design, back-office architecture, legacy integration and load testing.

The move will enable Compuware to satisfy customers who want to get services capable of addressing both customer-facing and back-office issues from a single provider.

Some of the organizations that use BlairLake's services include Sprint PCS (NYSE: PCS), Johns Hopkins University, HealthNet (Nasdaq: HLNT) and Readers Digest.