Barrington's Best Stock Picks for 2011

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Barrington Research's list of Best Ideas for 2011, which includes stocks like Sirius XM (SIRI) and Imax (IMAX), could see picks rise up to 67% this year based on the firm's expectations.

Investors may not be as familiar with Chicago-based Barrington Research as they are with Goldman Sachs or Barclays, but the firm's Best Ideas List outperformed several key benchmarks in 2010, the first year of its existence. For the full year, Barrington's best stock picks were up 35.3%, outpacing gains on the S&P 500 (12.8%), the S&P Small Cap 600 (25%) and the Russell 2000 (25.3%).

Barrington's list is updated quarterly and represents analysts' top picks for the coming 12 months. It is currently composed of 14 stocks with an average market cap of $1.5 billion and median market cap of $800 million. There are six small-caps, five mid-caps and two large-cap names that make the list.

Sirius XM was the firm's top-performing stock for 2010, rising 172%, along with Imax, which came in third with a 60% gain. AtriCure (ATRC) rounds out the top three stocks for last year with a 97% gain. These three names remain on Barrington's Best Ideas List for this year.

The latest overhaul saw six stocks banished from the list, including Archipelago Learning (ARCL), Bottomline Technologies (EPAY), Nordson (NDSN), NuVasive (NUVA), Patterson Cos. (PDCO), and Walgreen (WAG). Barrington said it still maintains outperform ratings on the six stocks.

The 14 stocks on Barrington's list are arranged below in order of potential upside, based on the firm's 12-month price target.

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Sirius XM Radio (SIRI)

Company Profile: Sirius XM provides music and talk radio entertainment through satellite transmissions.

Current Share Price: $1.71 (Jan. 4)

Potential Upside: 13% based on a price target of $1.85

Barrington's Take: The best-performing stock for Barrington carries over into 2011, with the firm noting fundamental improvements for Sirius XM, including trends in auto volumes.

"While these gains did not dramatically improve our profitability outlook for 2010 (due primarily to associated subscriber acquisition costs), they should set the stage for further upside in 2011 and beyond," Barrington analysts wrote. "Interest in this story should continue to improve as management continues to deliver on its financial and operational metrics, demonstrating that the substance of the turnaround story is real."

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