Computer Horizon receives vote of confidence

Computer Horizons is throwing its hat in the ring this election year and investors are voting with their pocketbooks. Its shares picked up 4 7/16, or 20 percent, to 26 11/16 after Election.com tabbed it to develop an e-voting system for the Arizona democratic primary later this month.

Computer Horizons (Nasdaq: CHRZ) will be responsible for all of the technical aspects of the March 11 election including project management, systems integration, security and system logistics. Financial terms of the deal were not released.

The primary will mark the first time voters will be able to cast their votes online.

Company officials said development and testing of the service is ongoing and the system will be maintained at an undisclosed site.

Starting March 7, Arizona voters will be able to vote online using a personal identification number.

"We needed a systems integration specialist who had the technical talent, project management experience and the flexibility required to meet the complex demands inherent in an undertaking of this type," said Richard Arends, a senior vice president at Election.com, in a prepared release. "CHC had all of the skills and our collective progress to date is proof positive that we made the right choice."

Wednesday's run-up pushed Computer Horizons shares to a 52-week high. The stock slumped to a low of 9 1/4 in April.

Last quarter, it posted a loss of $972,000, or 3 cents a share, on sales of $118.5 million.

First Call consensus expects Computer Horizons to break even in its first quarter and post a profit of 41 cents a share in the fiscal year.

Three of the five analysts tracking the stock maintain either a "buy" or "strong buy" recommendation.

H.C. Wainwright upgraded the stock from an "accumulate" rating to a "buy" on Feb. 23.