Tag - Tns

Investors who follow the money may find their search leads them to TNS Inc. (NYSE:TNS), which helps move data from Point A to Point B without detouring through a hacker’s computer.

The Reston, Va.-based company, also known as Transaction Network Services, provides clients with business-critical communications in the United States and 26 other countries through a suite of secure voice and data services. Customers include processors of ATM, credit card and debit card transactions.

TNS also offers secure voice and data network services to the financial-services industry, via its own network and alliances with other telecommunications carriers. Other bits of data crossing its networks include information from lotteries and the gaming industry.

But for investors considering TNS, the question remains: is buying the stock a secure deal, or no deal?

The fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis continues to litter the financial-services industry and ancillary fields including communications services. Analysts covering TNS generally have a fairly positive outlook, despite the tumultuous conditions amid the recession fears. Of the six analysts tracked by Thomson Financial, one rated TNS a “strong buy,” another placed it at “buy,” and the others have it at “hold.”

Since its founding in 1990 to provide services to the point-of-sale industry, TNS has traveled a long and winding road marked by methodical growth and, at times, tempestuous ownership. The company operates in . . .