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Reading International is one of the largest cinema owners in the U.S., but unlikeRegal Entertainment ( RGC), Carmike Cinemas (CKEC), or Cinemark(CNK), it isn't a name that leaps to most investors' minds. The Los Angeles-based company operates 27 cinemas with 266 screens domestically, including New York's fabled Angelika Film Center, as well as 29 cinemas with 213 screens in Australia and New Zealand.

The cinema business alone should be enough to put Reading on Wall Street's radar, but the company's real estate is of even greater interest. Reading's owned properties, including four in Manhattan, could be worth considerably more than the company's stated book value, which doesn't reflect years of property-price appreciation.

Capstone Equities, a New York real-estate concern, pegged Reading's value at between $12 and $14 a share in a May 15 letter to Reading's board of directors. That's more than double Reading's stated book value of $5.44 a share, and Friday's closing stock price of $5.07.

Capstone, a Reading shareholder, hasn't been shy about backing up its estimate with money. Earlier this year the firm offered $100 million for two of Reading's Manhattan properties -- City Cinemas 1, 2 & 3, located on Third Avenue, and the Union Square Theater -- a substantial premium to the properties' $32 million stated book value. Reading's management rejected the offer as "non-acceptable," but a sale could still be in the cards.