Industries – Education: Second

Thiago Capucci Macruz
Itaú BBA

First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 1

Team debut: 2013

Newcomer Thiago Capucci Macruz shoots straight in to second place. “The ample availability of student loans, coupled with the still-tough labor market, makes for a very decent volume growth perspective,” the Itaú BBA analyst says. “The sector’s remarkable operating leverage is sustaining very good profitability levels and thus operating momentum. Positive cash-flow generation is just a natural consequence.” Macruz, who covers four companies, upgraded Kroton Educacional from neutral to outperform back in May 2012, at 13.80 reais, on the belief that the Belo Horizonte–based operator of primary and secondary schools would enjoy robust growth. Boy, was he right. In March the company reported that sales surged more than 90 percent year-over-year in 2012, to 1.4 billion reais ($608.27 million), and net income catapulted a stunning 441 percent, to 202 million reais. By mid-July the stock had rocketed to 30 reais, for a stunning 117.4 percent advance that beat the broad market by 127 percentage points. The São Paulo–based researcher remains bullish, with a target price of 37 reais. — Pam Baker

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