According to the site, which claims to have more than 2m UK members, the time "may now be right" for investors to take a closer look at the UK's leading independent print group.

The article, which was written by freelance analyst David Holding, pointed out that St Ives' share price, at the time of writing (£0.56), gave it a market capitalisation of £58m, which is around half the value of its net assets.

However, Holding was not unequivocal in his support and stressed that, in the printing sector, the "competition is fierce, margins thin, and the industry is rapidly contracting".

"January's trading statement was mixed," he said. "The company hasn't yet seen any signs of improvement in its underlying markets. The general economic climate remains uncertain and sales are expected to be lower in the first half than last year.

"On the other hand, margins have improved, through cost-cutting measures and the concentration of efforts in higher margin areas. The company is confident of beating the previous year's bottom-line figure for the first half, which saw earnings per share from continuing operations come in at 4.2p."

This, he added, meant that the company's shares could be trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of up to 6.7. In addition, according to Holding, broker-predicted earnings per share of 7p this year, rising to 7.9p next year made St Ives' shares "look particularly appealing for value hunters in light of the balance sheet strength".