Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: COPEL, TRM Corporation, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Quilmes Industrial

Business Wire, April 4, 2006

CHICAGO -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Companhia Paranaense de Energia, or COPEL (NYSE:ELP) as the Bull of the Day and TRM Corporation (Nasdaq:TRMM) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Quilmes Industrial (NYSE:LQU). Full analysis of all four stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all four stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Our Bull of the Day recommendation is for Companhia Paranaense de Energia (NYSE:ELP), or COPEL, which we have just upgraded from Hold to Buy. In our view, the company's fourth quarter results were positive, including higher revenue, sound cash flow, and strong net income. We also believe the business environment for COPEL remains promising and that the agreement with Petrobras was positive. We are also increasing our 2006 and 2007 earnings estimates. The political influence on COPEL's management team remains a concern, but we do not think it will be a problem in the short-term. Our target price is $11.75.

Bear of the Day:

TRM Corporation's (Nasdaq:TRMM) strategy as a consolidator of the fragmented ATM market has run into challenges as the integration of the eFunds ATM network has been troubled with increased operating expenses, and the acquired portfolio has underperformed. Adding to the company's troubles are increasing theft rates in the United Kingdom, which caused it to abandon a planned acquisition in the U.K. Without its consolidation strategy, the opportunity for growth is limited, and its violation of debt covenants creates near-term uncertainty. We therefore downgrade TRMM shares to Sell with a $3.50 price target.

Analyst Blog:

Truckers in Argentina are beginning to implement a rolling strike in hopes of a 28% pay raise. Deliveries have stopped to ATM machines. The truckers are contemplating halting soft drink and beer deliveries. PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) may be affected to a slight degree, since Argentina accounts for a small percentage of revenues of both companies. However, Quilmes Industrial (NYSE:LQU), a major brewer and soft drink company which derives over 66% of its revenues from Argentina, would be dramatically affected.

Get the full analysis of all four stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underpeform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

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