When Playboy Enterprises (NYSE: PLA) Interim CEO Jerry Kern told investors during the company’s Q4 earnings call this week that it would be open to offers for a buyout, many of the company’s shareholders were thrilled. But as a Playboy rep told the NYT, Kern’s statement reflected the company’s policy of always being open to acquisition offers, but that the adult media property was not actively looking to be sold. Still analysts who were on the earnings call, like Jonathan Boyar, a principle with Playboy investor Boyar Asset Management, hope that the company’s ears are a bit more open than they used to be.

As Boyar told paidContent, Playboy’s stated openness to a deal came as “a welcome change and a step in the right direction. Playboy is a company that’s been under-valued and under-managed for some time. It is still one of the world’s premiere brands and its logo is as recognizable as the Nike swoosh,’ but unfortunately for investors, that’s where the similarity ends. They have not been able to monetize the brand the way they should. It’s a sad fact that despite the power of its brand image, it has failed to capture one-tenth of one percent of the world’s multi-billion adult entertainment market.”

While investors have been cheered somewhat by Playboy’s revamp of its digital properties, other areas of the business need much more urgent reform, especially in light of the company’s Q4 net loss of $145.7 Million and 18.7 percent drop in revenues. An example of Playboy’s poor management the last several years can be found in their licensing deals, Boyar said. “Look at the agreement with Palms Casino,” he said, referring to the Playboy Club that opened at the Las Vegas resort in 2006. “That’s turned out to be a very lucrative deal for Palms, but I don’t think anyone can say the same for Playboy.”

Even before Kern’s comment, investors began to hope that once Christie Hefner said she was stepping down from her CEO and chairman posts in December, a major impediment to a sale was gone. Still, Boyar acknowledged that at least one major obstacle remains. In particular, any acquisition would have to approved by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner because of the dual class share structure. That structure has held the company back and made a less attractive acquisition target, Boyar said.

Boyar and other analysts we spoke with offered no specifics on what companies might be a good fit for a Playboy said. Boyar would only stress confidence that even in this media market, “Playboy is still viewed a very valuable brand. There are no shortage of people who would want to own this company.”

In addition to expressing openness to a sale, Playboy has made another pivotal decision in Boyar’s eyes recently, namely the move to close its New York operations and consolidate its offices at its Chicago headquarters. Boyar: “There is no reason that a company the size of Playboy—with a market cap of just above $50 million—would need so many offices, especially at this time.”

• Playboy Earnings Call: Kern: ‘Christie Deserved A Higher Severance’; Sale Offers? Our Ears Are Open
• Earnings: Miss February’s Bad Month: Playboy Q4 Loss Hits $145.7 Million; Revs Drop 18.7 Percent