An investment firm wants Analysts International Corp. (NASD: ANLY) management to consider selling the company in an effort to maximize shareholder value, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The investment firm, Milwaukee-based Heartland Advisors Inc., called for Analysts International to include a proposal in its proxy statement to hire an investment banking firm to evaluate alternatives for the company, including a sale, according to the filing.

Analysts International, based in Minneapolis, provides information technology staffing. It posted revenue of $26.5 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 29, down 8.2 percent from the year-ago quarter. And it posted a third-quarter net loss of $645,000.

“The company’s high-quality talent and client lists have real value,” according to a Heartland statement in the filing. “Unfortunately, given the company’s market cap of $16 million, the public market doesn’t seem to care.”

Heartland also reported it believes that it costs more than $1 million a year to be a public company and that Analysts International should not be a public company.

“As long-term investors, we have taken the ‘wait and hope’ approach, and it has not worked,” according to a Heartland statement in the filing. “With today’s environment of low interest rates and robust private equity valuations, we believe the time to act is now. It is time for the company’s leadership to maximize value for shareholders and pursue strategic alternatives."

Heartland owns more than 9 percent of Analysts International.