Top 5 Small-Caps for Jan. 16

Each business day, TheStreet.com Ratings compiles a list of the top five stocks in one of five categories -- fast-growth, all-around value, large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap -- based on data from the close of the previous trading session. Today, small-cap stocks are in the spotlight.

These are stocks of companies that have market capitalizations of between $50 million and $500 million that rank near the top of all stocks rated by our proprietary quantitative model, which looks at more than 60 factors.

The stocks must also be followed by at least one financial analyst who posts estimates on the Institutional Brokers' Estimate System. They are ordered by their potential to appreciate.

Note that no provision is made for off-balance-sheet assets such as unrealized appreciation/depreciation of investments, market value of real estate or contingent liabilities that might affect book value. This could be material for some companies with large underfunded pension plans.

We've rated American Physicians Service Group(AMPH), an insurance and financial services firm, a buy since May 2003. This rating is supported by several positive factors, including its largely solid financial position, notable return on equity, expanding profit margins, good cash flow from operations, and growth in earnings per share. For the third quarter of fiscal 2008, the company reported that its EPS improved 35.6% year over year, rising from 73 cents to 99 cents. This continues a trend of positive EPS growth over the past two years. Return on equity improved slightly when compared with the same quarter one year prior, rising from 14.4% to 17%, while net operating cash flow increased significantly, rising 264.7% to $7.5 million. In addition, the company's debt-to-equity is very low at 0.06, implying there has been very successful management of debt levels.