Might it be an opportune time for someone to make a run at ValueClick Inc. [VCLK]? Shares of the online advertising firm are down nearly 30% in just the past month, the most recent hit coming earlier this week, when eBay Inc. [EBAY] said it would set up its own affiliate network to drive traffic to its Web sites rather than continue to use ValueClick's services.

Long viewed as a buyout candidate after rivals aQuantive Inc. and DoubleClick Inc. were snatched up by Microsoft Corp. [MSFT] and Google Inc. [GOOG], respectively, ValueClick is becoming a cheaper option. With its shares at $16.76 on Wednesday, the company is trading at less than half of its 52-week high of $36.70. Its market capitalization stands at $1.6 billion.

Citigroup Inc. analyst Mark Mahaney remains a fan of the company and its stock. In a research note Wednesday, Mahaney writes that ValueClick has yet to see "a material impact on its fundamentals from the macro environment" and that the risk from Google and DoubleClick is "overstated" because DoubleClick's focus has been on Web publishers while ValueClick has focused on advertisers.

While Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! Inc. [YHOO] and AOL all have made some large acquisitions of online advertising companies, ValueClick could be appealing to more traditional ad agencies considering an aggressive move. 

If it's not snatched up, ValueClick could turn buyer. Mahaney notes the company had $288 million of cash and no debt as of the end of its fourth quarter, giving it "significant financial flexibility." Mahaney names ValueClick his top small-cap Internet long idea with a $30 price target. - David Shabelman

See March 17 story from Reuters
See July 30 post from Tech Confidential

For more, see Mashable