Ahead Of The Bell: Harte-Hanks Downgraded

NEW YORK (AP) — Harte-Hanks Inc. may not see the kind of rebound Wall Street expects for the direct marketing and advertising company, a BMO Capital Markets analyst said Thursday as he downgraded.

"We fear that the Street's expectations have become overextended and consensus estimates are too high," BMO analyst Daniel Salmon told investors in a note.

He lowered his rating on the San Antonio-based company to "Underperform" from "Market Perform."

Salmon said expectations for a rebound in the company's hard-hit shoppers segment, which circulates The PennySaver and The Flyer ad mailings, may be unrealistic.

He said the segment faces a 7 percent rise in paper costs as well as a postage rate increase of 1.4 percent in May.

Salmon reiterated his 2010 earnings forecast of 75 cents per share.