Zacks senior manufacturing sector analyst Steve Biggs, CFA maintains his Hold rating on the shares of electronic components manufacturer Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (BHE). The following excerpts give the reasons behind his argument:

'Despite mixed signals in the high-end computing segment, regulatory headwinds in the medical segment, and some softness in the test & instrumentation segment, Benchmark Electronics, Inc. should make progress with new programs in the fourth quarter. As such, we expect the ramping of new programs to improve BHE's revenue run rate in 2008. We, therefore, maintain a Hold rating on BHE shares with a six-month price target to $23.00.

'Weak demand and slower product and program transitions has hurt Benchmark's revenue base in the third quarter of fiscal 2007. Shares of Benchmark are currently trading at 15.7x our 2007 EPS estimate of $1.33, a discount to the industry. Despite challenging market condition, the company recorded strong new program bookings during the third quarter, which should leave it well-positioned for growth over the longer-term.

'However, BHE does appear to have more short-term challenges than its peer group. Therefore, we believe the shares should remain at a discount to the peer group, and maintain our Hold rating. Our $23.00 target price reflects a multiple of 13.7x our 2008 EPS estimates of $1.68, which is indeed a discounted valuation.'