Shares of United Online Inc., the Woodland Hills Internet company, rose 8 percent early Wednesday after an analyst at Benchmark Co. started coverage with a “buy” rating.

Analyst Daniel Kurnos said in a note to investors that the market has assigned little to no value to United’s media and retail segment, thus undervaluing the entire company.

United Online originally provided Internet access via dial-up connections. The company is shifting its business model to publishing, using cash from the dial-up operation to buy properties such as the FTD flower e-commerce site and Memory Lane, a site formerly called Classmates.com.

Kurnos gave the stock a 12-month target price of $7 per share. Currently seven analysts follow United Online. Five rate the company at “buy” or “outperform” and two give it a “hold” rating.

By mid-day trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange shares of United Online sold for $5.59, a gain of 43 cents from its Tuesday close.