As hungry for information and analysis as Wall Street is, the financial center can't keep track of every publicly traded company out there.

That's where Peter Ricchiuti and his students at Tulane University come in. Ricchiuti's students--they call themselves Wall Street's farm team--search for the region's undiscovered gems, or "stocks under rocks."

Tulane publishes the findings each year in the "Burkenroad Reports," an analysis of several dozen promising regional companies. A mutual fund (Ticker: HYBUX) of proven Burkenroad companies has shown a 58% return during the past three years, while the S & P 500 is up only 6%.

Burkenroad stocks tend to be more volatile than blue chips because most have relatively small market capitalization. Next year should prove fruitful for some Louisiana-based companies, Ricchiuti says. "On a relative basis, Louisiana in 2005 is looking better and better."

So which companies does the Burkenroad group like for 2005? Here are a few:

Superior Energy Services Inc.

With its headquarters in Harvey, the oilfield services company has spent the past decade building itself through acquisitions.

Their ace asset is a fleet of lift boats, vessels that service shallow-water oil rigs by jacking up their deck on legs positioned at the four corners. Superior now has the largest such fleet in the Gulf of Mexico, Ricchiuti says.

Superior is a leader in the business of plugging abandoned wells. Strict federal laws require oil companies to plug and restore sites, which makes for a lucrative business. Superior is convincing oil companies to simply turn over aging wells until they play out, giving the company residual oil and gas.

"This is very innovative and has attracted the attention of some major oil companies who would like to rid themselves of the deferred plug and abandonment liability," Ricchiuti says.

But what really sets Superior apart is that even though it has acquired companies, it has tended to retain the key executives within them for their expertise.

"CEO Terry Hall has utilized a successful acquisition strategy in which the acquired company's management stays on to run the business and the acquisition price is ... part of the function of how well the business does over the next few years," he says. "Most companies just fire the executives and later find that these relationships were the whole key to the business."

Burkenroad predicts Superior will earn 48 cents per share this year and 89 cents per share next year.

Sanderson Farms Inc.

The Laurel, Miss.-based company has ridden America's anti-carb craze all the way the bank. In the past few years its stock leapt from the $6 range to more than $40.

The public knows Sanderson from its celebrity spokeswoman Louise Mandrell. Sanderson operates major processing facilities in Hammond and in nearby McComb, Miss. In a market with plenty of chicken producers, Sanderson has earned a reputation as an efficient operation, Ricchiuti says.

U.S. chicken producers were cranking out poultry at close to 100% capacity for a few years when the carb craze started to fade, creating an oversupply. Then a tariff dispute with Russia prompted that country, a huge importer of dark chicken meat, to penalize the U.S. with higher tariffs.

Those developments were worsened by the fact that some major producers were in the midst of building new facilities to increase capacity. But all of those setbacks should be short-term, Ricchiuti says.

Sanderson's stock is now trading in the mid-$30s, off from its high in the $40s. Next year will be stronger for the company, he says, because the excess supply will be quickly absorbed.

"Sanderson has the cheapest price earnings ratio out there, about eight times earnings," he said. "It's really very inexpensive."

Sanderson also will benefit if the stock market slows down and investors seek shelter in defensive stocks, including food processors. Pershare earnings will be about $4.50 per share next year, Ricchiuti says.

Teche Holdings Inc.

Banks are typically staid, conservative stocks that give investors modest returns.

Yet Teche Holdings has shown more handsome returns thanks to its practice of offering free checking. In fact, Ricchiuti says, it took him and his student researchers a while to appreciate the practice.

"They'd always tout their free checking, that it was bringing in all these new customers, and I'd say, 'Yeah, but isn't zero times a big number still zero?'"

But the wily Cajuncountry bank has found that its checking customers are using the bank for other, fee-generating services. That sort of aggressive marketing has boosted the otherwise staid banking sector.

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"Banks in the last four years have, without a lot of fanfare, blown the doors off the market," Ricchiuti says.

Teche, with headquarters in Franklin, has successfully laid claim to a slice of the competitive Baton Rouge market, Ricchiuti says.

"They've gone against the Regions and AmSouths and done more than hold their own. Baton Rouge is a real banking market, and that will open a lot of doors for them."

Teche, which is paying a 2.2% dividend, is forecast to earn $2.55 a share this year and $2.70 next year, making it a promising prospect.

Shaw Group Inc.

The diversified industrial construction and engineering company has had to adapt to major shifts in its markets in recent years, and not always in a way shareholders like.

The Baton Rouge company disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission is examining its accounting, which took more wind from Shaw's sails. And plenty of investors continue to short the stock--nearly 20% of the float is now short-sold.

Of all the companies Burkenroad has followed, few have created such diverse opinions: There are as many people shorting the stock as there are with long positions.

Ricchiuti nevertheless likes Shaw's fundamentals and its prospects. And recent improvement in the stock price to around $14 is a sign that Wall Street is liking Shaw more as well.

"Finally investors are getting some confidence in the story, and the stock is doing better than the market," he says. "They are getting credit for a few things."

Shaw has always strived to be a technology leader in whatever field it ventures into, from pipe fabrication to building power plants. That, Ricchiuti says, is a key to the strength of its business model.

Shaw's core business of power plant construction has been down for several years. But it's a cyclical business that is destined to bounce back eventually.

And despite the SEC investigation, Ricchiuti says he believes Chief Financial Officer Bob Belk "is as straight an arrow as they come." Ricchiuti says he's not overly concerned about the outcome of the probe.

"It seems like everyone is dealing with this stuff with one way or another. It worries me a little bit, but then again so many are in the same boat."

When he travels outside Louisiana, he is asked more often about Shaw than any other Louisiana stock, even Entergy. Finally he feels has some good news to tell.

"Down the road it will be a good story for 2005," he says.

Ricchiuti projects Shaw will earn 78 cents per share next year, about twice its projected earnings for 2005.

SUPERIOR ENERGY SERVICES INC.

Earning Per Share forecast 2005:  $0.48
Earning Per Share forecast 2005:  $0.89
52-week stock price range         $8.27-$14
Market cap:                       $1.06 billion
Dividend:                         N/A

SANDERSON FARM

Earning Per Share forecast 2005:    $4.02
Earning Per Share forecast 2005:    $4.02
52-week stock price range          $22.2-$55.20
Market cap:                       $724.7 million
Dividend:                            1.1%

TECHE HOLDINGS COMPANY

Earning Per Share forecast 2005:   $2.55
Earning Per Share forecast 2005:   $2.70
52-week stock price range         $34.10-$41.70
Market cap:                       $91.9 million
Dividend:                           2.2%

SHAW GROUP

Earning Per Share forecast 2005:    $0.38
Earning Per Share forecast 2005:    $0.78
52-week stock price range           $8.99-$14.45
Market cap:                       $895.5 million
Dividend:                         N/A

Source: Burkenroad Reports

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The "Burkenroad Reports" are the work of 200 MBA and undergraduate students at Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business.

Divided into teams responsible for analyzing public companies in the region, the students visit factories, sit down with top executives and comb through financials for weaknesses.

Their findings are highlighted in an annual report called the "Burkenroad Reports" after the late Tulane benefactor William B. Burkenroad Jr. The students follow 50 public companies in six states.