June 14 (Bloomberg) -- Eastman Kodak Co. shares rose to a 14-month high after a Citigroup Inc. analyst said the company's new sensor technology will drive growth and a Standard & Poor's analyst upgraded the stock to ``hold.''

Shares of Rochester, New York-based Kodak, the world's largest photography company, jumped $2.16, or 8 percent, to $29.19 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. It was the biggest rise since April 25. The shares have increased 27 percent in the past year.

Image-sensor technology that Kodak said today will eliminate dark, blurry photos may be one sign the company's shift from film to digital is starting to pay off. The company in February introduced inkjet printers that let users produce digital photos at home and put Kodak in direct competition with Hewlett-Packard Co.

``We see image sensors as one of the `Four Horsemen' in Kodak's transformational technology charge,'' alongside the printers and organic light-emitting diodes that can be used in mobile phones and digital cameras, Matt Troy, an analyst at New York-based Citigroup Inc., wrote in a note. ``We look for Kodak to market the technology and seek to co-develop opportunities with industry partners.''

He estimates Kodak gets about $100 million in revenue from sensors. The image-sensor market is valued at about $7 billion, Troy said.

The technology can be used in CMOS sensors, installed in less expensive cameras and cell-phones that can take pictures, Kodak said in a statement. It can also be implemented in CCD sensors, a higher-quality version used in cameras such as Olympus Corp.'s professional models.

`Has Potential'

``It has the potential to be a meaningful product with an impact on revenues, but we feel it's premature to consider it successful at this point,'' said Erik Kolb, a Standard & Poor's analyst, in an interview. It will be about a year until the sensor is integrated into a camera that will be shipped out, he said. ``They have significant challenges ahead of them in most of the segments they operate.''

Kolb, who is based in New York, upgraded his rating on Kodak shares from ``sell,'' boosted his 2007 per-share profit estimate to 30 cents from 10 cents and lifted his target stock price to $33 from $22.

The new sensor advances an existing Kodak technology for color images known as the ``Bayer Pattern,'' that was first developed by Kodak scientist Dr. Bryce Bayer in 1976, the company's statement said.

Sales in the consumer digital-imaging group, which includes inkjet printers, fell 9 percent last year to $2.92 billion from $3.22 billion a year earlier. That revenue made up 22 percent of Kodak's overall sales in 2006.

``People are accepting they've got other tools to keep them relatively stable,'' said John Moore, a New York-based analyst at Moody's Investors Service. ``Up to this point, they haven't had big plans to ramp that dramatically. They realize they're starting from scratch.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Gillian Wee in New York at gwee3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 14, 2007 16:56 EDT