Hiroshi ToriiSMBC Nikko Securities
The buy side says: ”His analytical framework is the most useful for sorting the wheat from the chaff.”
SMBC Nikko Securities’ Hiroshi Torii, who leaps from third place to seize his first No. 1 finish, “is the most knowledgeable analyst,” declares one client. Torii covers all 34 companies in the Tokyo Stock Exchange REIT index and is unabashedly bullish, noting in February that the average dividend yield is above 6 percent and the average price-to-net-asset-value ratio is 0.8. “These valuations are very attractive,” he says. “I expect the average price-to-NAV ratio will recover to 1 in the second half of 2012, on hopes for changes in government policy,” such as a lifting of the ban on share buybacks. Torii recommends office over residential REITs, largely on valuation. Current favorites include Kenedix Realty Investment Corp., owing to the Tokyo-based concern’s dividend yield of 7.5 percent and price-to-NAV ratio of 0.6. “In addition,” the analyst says, “Kenedix has an aggressive attitude about acquiring properties to improve profitability.” Torii, 33, joined Nikko Cordial Securities (now SMBC Nikko Securities) in 2010 from Daiwa Securities Group; he has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Tokyo’s Sophia University. —Leslie Kramer
The buy side says: ”His analytical framework is the most useful for sorting the wheat from the chaff.”
SMBC Nikko Securities’ Hiroshi Torii, who leaps from third place to seize his first No. 1 finish, “is the most knowledgeable analyst,” declares one client. Torii covers all 34 companies in the Tokyo Stock Exchange REIT index and is unabashedly bullish, noting in February that the average dividend yield is above 6 percent and the average price-to-net-asset-value ratio is 0.8. “These valuations are very attractive,” he says. “I expect the average price-to-NAV ratio will recover to 1 in the second half of 2012, on hopes for changes in government policy,” such as a lifting of the ban on share buybacks. Torii recommends office over residential REITs, largely on valuation. Current favorites include Kenedix Realty Investment Corp., owing to the Tokyo-based concern’s dividend yield of 7.5 percent and price-to-NAV ratio of 0.6. “In addition,” the analyst says, “Kenedix has an aggressive attitude about acquiring properties to improve profitability.” Torii, 33, joined Nikko Cordial Securities (now SMBC Nikko Securities) in 2010 from Daiwa Securities Group; he has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Tokyo’s Sophia University. —Leslie Kramer