TALX Talx (MM)

CHICAGO, May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- William Blair & Company initiated research coverage of TALX Corporation (NASDAQ:TALX) ($26.17) with an Outperform rating and company profile of Aggressive Growth. TALX provides services, including employment verification and unemployment claims processing, that enable large and midsize corporations and government agencies to outsource the performance of business processes that would otherwise be performed by their own payroll or HR departments. Analyst Bruce Simpson estimated that the company would earn $1.07 per share in 2006 and $1.36 per share in 2007. "TALX is the leader in providing outsourced employment and salary verification to the country's largest employers," Simpson said. "The company's collection of payroll records is far larger than any competitor's offering, as TALX has almost 30% of all active employees in its database, making its product the gold standard for all such verifications. This competitive position results in pricing power and helps drive 15%-20% organic sales growth, in our estimation." "HR departments, under financial and regulatory pressure, are continuing to outsource noncore functions and adopt automated alternatives to paper-based processes," he added. "Over the past five years, TALX has broadened its service portfolio, which now spans from preemployment testing to postemployment claims management, thereby expanding its market opportunity, which we estimate at $1 billion." William Blair & Company, L.L.C. ( http://www.williamblair.com/ ) is a Chicago-based investment firm, founded in 1935, offering investment banking, asset management, equity research, institutional and private brokerage, and private capital to individual, institutional, and issuing clients. As an independent, employee-owned firm, our philosophy is to serve our clients' interests first and foremost. William Blair & Company has offices in Chicago, Hartford, London, San Francisco, Tokyo, Vaduz, and Zurich. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. has received compensation for investment banking services from the company within the past 12 months, or expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services in the next 3 months. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a market maker in the security of this company and may have a long or short position. For important disclosures and information regarding the firm's rating system, valuation methods and potential conflicts of interest, please visit: http://www.williamblair.com/pages/news_story_dept.asp?uid=1046&depID=4 Additional information is available upon request. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, CRD number 1252. DATASOURCE: William Blair & Company, L.L.C. CONTACT: Tony Zimmer, William Blair & Company, +1-312-364-8611, Web site: http://www.williamblair.com/

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