Analyst Update: Gigamon, Mattel, and TrueBlue

Analysts are weighing in today on IT issue Gigamon Inc (NYSE:GIMO), toymaker Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT), and blue-collar staffing service Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI). Here's a quick look at today's brokerage notes on GIMO, MAT, and TBI.

• GIMO is the best performer on the Big Board thus far. The shares are 22% higher at $28.74 -- and earlier touched an annual high of $29.20 -- after the firm posted first-quarter earnings that surpassed the Street's expectations. In response, no fewer than four brokerage firms hiked their price targets on the equity, including Raymond James (to $28) and Credit Suisse (to $30), which both underscored "outperform" ratings. Technically speaking, Gigamon Inc has been trending higher recently, with the shares up about 62.8% year-to-date. In fact, today's rally has GIMO on pace to close its April 2014 bear gap. Accordingly, short sellers have been hitting the bricks, as short interest declined by about 30.6% over the past two reporting periods. However, short interest still comprises 5.2% of GIMO's available float, which would take over a week to cover, at average trading volumes. Elsewhere, GIMO's average 12-month price target of $23.83 represents a 17% deficit to current trading levels, suggesting additional price-target hikes could be in store.

• Goldman Sachs and B. Riley both boosted their price targets on MAT, with the former lifting its price target to $37 from $26, and the latter hiking its price target to $31 from $29. Additionally, Goldman Sachs upgraded Mattel, Inc. to "buy" and waxed optimistic on new management, while B. Riley underscored its "buy" rating. At last check, the shares of MAT were 4.2% higher to $30.14, trimming their year-to-date loss to 2.6%. Sentiment in the options pits has been bullish, as MAT's 50-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) call/put volume ratio of 1.37 stands in the 93rd percentile of its annual range. Short sellers have been active on the stock, though, as over 10% of its available float is sold short.          

• Like GIMO, the shares of TBI are benefiting from a post-earnings boost, up 18.1% to $29.31, after the firm's first-quarter earnings beat consensus estimates. In addition, current-quarter guidance topped the consensus on the Street. Reacting was Deutsche Bank, which raised its price target by $1 to $31 while underscoring its "buy" rating. On the charts, the shares of Trueblue Inc have rebounded 48% since hitting an annual low of $19.82 on Jan. 20, and are now within a chip-shot of all-time highs. However, short-term traders have been more put-heavy than usual, as TBI's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 2.50 is higher than 79% of all equivalent readings from the past year. Simply stated, near-term speculators have only been more put-skewed 21% of the time over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, the brokerage bunch is divided on the stock, as three out of five covering analysts rate it a "hold." Plus, TBI's average 12-month price target of $27.17 sits below the shares' current perch, leaving the door wide open for more upbeat analyst attention.