Kenexa Shares Jump After Jobs Data, Cowen Upgrade

NEW YORK (AP) — Kenexa Corp. shares jumped Friday after the Labor Department reported another 345,000 jobs were lost in May, not as many as analysts anticipated.

Meanwhile, a Cowen & Co. analyst upgraded Kenexa, expecting the company to outperform market expectations as more firms look to outsource their human resources functions. Wayne, Pa.-based Kenexa provides Web-based applications for automating HR functions and also does recruiting for client companies.

"Unemployment is in the early stages of normalizing and large companies will outsource an increasing amount of HR functions as hiring trends stabilize," Cowen analyst Peter Goldmacher told investors in a note Friday. He raised his rating to "Outperform" from "Neutral."

Goldmacher said if the economy stabilizes, HR outsourcing should grow, and Kenexa will be an effective competitor with its "unique ability to provide outsourced recruiting, content and software globally."

The company's shares climbed 78 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $13.40 in afternoon trading. The stock has ranged from $3.66 to $24.01 over the past year.