< The 2015 All-Japan Research Team
Hidekatsu Watanabe
Mizuho Securities Group
First-place appearances: 0
Total appearances: 4
Team debut: 2012
Mizuho Securities analyst Hidekatsu Watanabe captures third place on this roster, down from No. 2 last year, and enjoys his second straight top finish on the Health Care & Pharmaceuticals lineup. In monitoring 35 Japanese small and OTC stocks, the 48-year-old “takes a long-term approach that boosts our performance,” attests one portfolio manager. This backer singles out the researcher’s long-standing buy recommendation on M3, which provides online medical information services. The Tokyo-based company has been expanding operations and delivering high earnings growth, Watanabe explains, and M3’s shares have been pacing the crowd. They soared 56.9 percent during the 12 months through late March, climbing to ¥2,513 while the sector gained 31.5 percent. He believes they can rise to ¥2,700. Another outperformer that the researcher continues to tout is medical equipment developer Asahi Intecc Co. of Aichi, whose earnings expansion has likewise been robust. In the trailing 12-month period through late last month, the stock rocketed 104.5 percent, to ¥8,110.