Top 5 Small-Caps for April 17

TSC Ratings TheStreet.com Ratings provides exclusive stock, ETF and mutual fund ratings and commentary based on award-winning, proprietary tools. Its "safety first" approach to investing aims to reduce risk while seeking solid outperformance on a total return basis.

Each business day, we compile a list of the top five stocks in 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 $50 million to $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 or 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.

NCI(NCIT) is a provider of IT services and solutions to U.S. federal government agencies. The company focuses on designing, implementing, maintaining, and upgrading IT systems and networks. NCI has been rated a buy since February 2008 based on its healthy growth in revenue and net income, solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share (EPS) growth, and sound return on equity.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, the company reported that its revenue rose 15.2% year over year, slightly outpacing the industry average of 13.5%. This growth appears to have helped boost EPS, which rose 44% when compared to the same quarter last year. The company's EPS growth is a continuation of a pattern of positive EPS growth over the past two years. Net income also improved, increasing 48.2% from $3.3 million to $5 million. Return on equity improved slightly when compared to a year ago, and can therefore be considered a modest strength for NCI. In addition, NCI's stock price has surged 89.65% over the past year, due to strong earnings growth and other key factors.