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2016 All-Japan Research Team: Plant Engineering & Shipbuilding, No. 3: Masanori Wakae

Masanori Wakae of Mizuho Securities Group celebrates his tenth consecutive appearance on this roster.

    Masanori Wakae
    Mizuho Securities Group
    First-place appearances: 0

    Total appearances: 10

    Team debut: 2007

    Masanori Wakaeof Mizuho Securities Group celebrates his tenth consecutive appearance on this roster. Although the analyst, 48, slips one rung to third place, he continues to win client loyalty with his attentiveness, clear communications and conscientious work. As one admirer says: “He’s personable and very easy to speak to and comprehend. If he makes a wrong call, he immediately updates his view.” Of the nine domestic plant engineering and shipbuilding names under Wakae’s coverage, Osaka-based Hitachi Zosen Corp. is among those he is advising investors to buy. The company makes environmental equipment, garbage incinerators, industrial machinery and waste processing plants, and ships. It is on the verge of booking its highest operating profit in 14 years, he notes, topping the ¥15.2 billion ($114.3 million) recorded in the fiscal year through March 2002, thanks largely to its environmental systems and industrial plants segment. One important, stable source of revenue — after-sales service and maintenance of domestic waste incinerators, which accounts for a majority of the company’s profits — should serve as a counterweight to weaknesses in the Chinese economy and depressed oil prices, the researcher believes. Moreover, increased revenue from bridge construction as well as improvements in less-profitable businesses should also help Hitachi Zosen again achieve double-digit operating profit growth. At ¥850, his price target for the shares implies a 56.5 percent potential upside to their trading value in mid-March.