Ebix: Insurance for your portfolio

Few sectors have been spared by the recent bear market, and technology is no exception. With the Dow Jones Technology Index down 16% year-to-date, Ebix, Inc. (Nasdaq:EBIX) has been one of the rare bright spots in 2008 in an otherwise discouraging industry.

Formerly started as Delphi Information Systems in 1976, the company, which changed its name in 2003, provides application software products for the insurance and financial service industries. It consists of a few hundred financial and technology consultants that work with clients to create systems that are customized for their clients’ e-commerce needs. Ebix designs products such as carrier systems, agency systems and exchanges.

The Atlanta-based small cap has experienced explosive growth and has been a remarkable success for its shareholders. Now at market cap $276 million, Ebix has seen its shares climb about 85% over the past 52 weeks and more than 1,000% over the past five years. This success has not gone unnoticed. In just the past month, the company was selected to join the Russell 2000 index and also was named one of the 100 fastest growing small public companies in the United States by Fortune Small Business magazine.

In May, company management reported a blow-out first quarter in which EPS reached the highest level in the organization’s 32-year history. Diluted EPS for the quarter surged 129.5% on a year-over-year basis and quarterly revenue rose by 84.5%. A major contributor to this growth was the company’s recent acquisition of Telstra eBusiness that occurred in January of this year. Going forward, Ebix expects . . .

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