< The 2015 All-Japan Research Team
Toshiya Mizutani
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co.
First-Place Appearances: 9
Total Appearances: 11
Analyst Debut: 2005
It’s nine straight years at the top of this lineup for Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co.’s Toshiya Mizutani, whose “long experience and deep knowledge make him extremely valuable,” one asset manager says. Tracking 22 Japanese stocks, the 56-year-old researcher believes that the sector is in “an expansion phase, leading to increases in construction demand and margins.” He cautions, however, that the group “faces rising costs from a shortage of construction workers.” Despite his concern about higher labor costs, Mizutani upgraded Tokyo-based architectural and civil engineering contracter Shimizu Corp. from neutral to outperform in May. The company’s strong topline growth and margin improvement, particularly from private sector projects in greater Tokyo, should buoy performance, he projected. Sure enough, in February management reported earnings of ¥23.57 billion ($196.5 million) for the nine months through December, an increase of 191.4 percent over the year-earlier period. And by late last month, the stock had soared 43.7 percent, to ¥842, beating the sector by 18.8 percentage points. Going forward, the analyst favors Taisei Corp., a real estate developer headquartered in Tokyo. Catalysts he cites include the executive team’s share-repurchase program and focus on selecting projects that generate high margins, as well as the company’s dividend growth. Accordingly, in early March, when the shares were trading at ¥703, he raised his target price for Taisei to ¥920. Mizutani’s ”helpful, forward-looking views” win praise from another supporter.