PJC Piper Jaffray Companies

MINNEAPOLIS, May 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Piper Jaffray & Co. (NYSE:PJC) announces that five senior research analysts were honored in the sixth annual StarMine Analyst Awards, recognizing the top equity research analysts. The annual StarMine Analyst Awards sort brokerage analysts into two categories: picking stocks and estimating earnings. In determining the awards, StarMine considered only earnings estimates and stock recommendations made for U.S. companies during calendar year 2006. The following analysts received awards for stock picking: -- Aaron Kessler in the Internet and catalog retail industry (No. 1 overall in this industry) -- Ted Tenthoff in the life sciences tools and services industry (No. 1 overall in this industry) -- Tony Gikas in the leisure equipment and products industry (No. 2 overall in this industry) -- Jesse Pichel in the semiconductors and semiconductor equipment industry (No. 2 overall in this industry) The following analysts received awards for estimating earnings: -- Aaron Kessler in the Internet and catalog retail industry (No. 1 overall in this sector) -- Bob Napoli in the real estate investment trusts industry (No. 1 overall in this industry) -- Jesse Pichel in the electrical equipment industry (No. 2 overall in this industry) "We are committed to providing clients with industry-leading, in-depth proprietary research analysis and this achievement is a true testament of that commitment," said Joel Denney, head of Investment Research at Piper Jaffray. "Congratulations to the five senior research analysts and their teams who were honored with these prestigious awards." About Piper Jaffray Piper Jaffray Companies is a leading, international middle market investment bank and institutional securities firm, serving the needs of middle market corporations, private equity groups, public entities, nonprofit clients and institutional investors. Founded in 1895, Piper Jaffray provides a comprehensive set of products and services, including equity and debt capital markets products; public finance services; mergers and acquisitions advisory services; high-yield and structured products; institutional equity and fixed-income sales and trading; and equity and high-yield research. With headquarters in Minneapolis, Piper Jaffray has 25 offices across the United States and international locations in London and Shanghai. Piper Jaffray & Co. is the firm's principal operating subsidiary. (NYSE: PJC; http://www.piperjaffray.com/ ) Since 1895. Member SIPC and NYSE. DATASOURCE: Piper Jaffray & Co. CONTACT: Susan Beatty, Public Relations and Communications of Piper Jaffray, +1-612-303-5680 Web site: http://www.piperjaffray.com/

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