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Good Golly Ms. Holly -- Lehman Rates Yahoo! a Buy

Eric Gillin

Updated from 1:37 p.m. EST

You can go ahead and buy shares of Yahoo! (YHOO) -- at least that's what Lehman Brothers' Holly Becker is saying today.

One of the early bears in the analyst community about the company's stock, Becker changed her rating on the CEO-less Web portal to buy from market perform, citing the company's low valuation. Yesterday, Yahoo! closed at $12.44. The stock closed today up 22%.

"We believe estimates are finally low enough and valuation is much more reasonable with the stock at less than $13," Becker wrote. "Also, we think the downside on the stock is protected by takeover potential."

Indeed, Yahoo!, which recently said goodbye to Tim Koogle from the company's CEO post, is seen as a prime takeover candidate because its once gigantic market cap now sits at a svelte $7 billion. Possible suitors are seen coming from the entertainment industry, similar to the feat AOL Time Warner (AOL) pulled off last year.

TheStreet.com's Peter Eavis has a more sober outlook on the company. He recently wrote that Yahoo! won't start looking attractive until it trades below $5 a share.