Stock of Norcross, Ga.-Based Banking Technology Firm Jumps.

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jul. 28 -- A company that hasn't garnered many headlines or much notice from analysts was one of the hottest local technology stocks this week, hitting a 52-week high briefly Tuesday before closing at $24.50, up $4.

Shares of Norcross-based InterCept Group are up 32 percent over the last five trading sessions and 237 percent for 1999.

Since Monday, about 1.4 million shares of InterCept Group have been trading each day. InterCept Group's average daily volume is about 33,800.

Bob Bolen, an analyst with J.C. Bradford & Co., has a "strong buy" rating on InterCept. In a June report on the company, Bolen said its internal growth is steady and its acquisition strategy is starting to pay off. J.C. Bradford underwrote InterCept's June 1998 initial public offering.

Bolen said he thinks InterCept Group might be benefiting from the increased attention being paid to companies such as Norcross-based nFront, which offers Internet banking solutions to community banks.

Four analyst firms initiated coverage of nFront with "buy" recommendations in the past two days.

The 220-employee InterCept Group makes and sells products that allow community banks to do such things as transfer money electronically and offer ATM access to their customers. But in March, the company bought Direct Access Interactive, an Internet banking company, which put it directly in the Internet banking market.

Companies helping community banks move to the Internet have received more attention from analysts in recent days. Richard Bove at Raymond James initiated coverage of nFront, with a "buy" rating and a 12-month target price of $30.

Three other brokerage firms issued "buy" ratings on the Norcross company Monday. Despite the attention, nFront closed Tuesday at $16.75, down 31 1/4 cents.

Its shares sold for as high as $25.87 1/2 on July 6, up 158 percent from its June 29 initial public offering price of $10.

Also, Manhattan Associates, an Atlanta maker of supply-chain management software, was downgraded to "hold" by Peter H. Jacobson of Kaufman Brothers.

Manhattan Associates' shares were unchanged Tuesday, closing at $7.75.

Its shares are down 6.2 percent over the last five trading sessions and 70.6 percent for the year.

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