Toshiya Mizutani Mitsubishi UFJ
second team Hiroki Kawashima Daiwa
third team Yoshiaki Komatsu Nomura
“Deep knowledge of the industry,” “strong connections to the companies he follows” and “conclusions that are always based on hard numbers and evidence,” money managers say, are among the reasons that Toshiya Mizutani of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. finishes in first place for a fourth consecutive year. The 51-year-old analyst upgraded Taikisha from neutral to buy in November, at ¥1,200, on the belief that expansion and increase of capital expenditures would boost earnings at the world’s second-largest contractor of auto-painting plants. By the end of February, the stock had leapt to ¥1,498, a 24.8 percent advance that bested the sector by 16.4 points.
After three years in third place, Daiwa’s Hiroki Kawashima climbs one rung to second place. “His investment rationale is always backed up with very clear, detail-oriented reports,” observes one buy-side backer. Kawashima downgraded Kajima Corp. to neutral in February 2009, at ¥224, on falling earnings. By late February 2010 the stock had slumped to ¥208.
Newcomer Yoshiaki Komatsu takes the No. 3 spot. The Nomura Securities Co. analyst upgraded Comsys Holdings Corp. from hold to buy in May, at ¥832, citing “profit stability” at the provider of telecommunications infrastructure services. The stock had shot up 9.4 percent, to ¥910, by early February, and Komatsu downgraded it to hold, on valuation. Since then the shares slipped back to ¥853, through the end of February.
