Rodman & Renshaw has initiated coverage of Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTX) with a market outperform rating, saying that the company is the market leader for heavy lift boom trucks with shares exceeding 30 percent for equipment of capacity greater than 30 tons.

Manitex is a global provider of custom configured lifting equipment, supplying niche products including boom truck and sign cranes, forklifts, trailers and container handlers.

The brokerage said the company avoids operating in commodity markets, such as light and medium lift boom trucks and small forklifts where competition is based on price. Rather, its product offering is skewed toward heavier lift equipment which tends to have higher selling prices and delivers healthier margins.

Manitex has been successful at maintaining and improving its market leading positions by consistently rolling out innovative new equipment that is typically designed based on specific needs expressed by customers, analyst Fred Buonocore wrote in a note to clients.

Over the past two years it has introduced multiple new products with a variety of differentiating features that have been contributing to growth in backlog over the last several quarters.

Backlog stands at a record high level as a result of strong demand from oil & gas, power, military and international markets along with growing orders for products manufactured by the recently acquired CVS operation, the analyst said.

Despite the recent surge in the stock price following the announcement of strong Q3 backlog growth, we believe substantial upside remains, said Buonocore, who has a $6.50 price target on the stock.

Shares of Manitex closed Monday's regular trading session at $4.32 on Nasdaq.