Hajime Hitotsuyanagi
Daiwa Securities Group
Hajime Hitotsuyanagi of Daiwa Securities Group leaps from runner-up to second place. He is bullish on Japan Airlines Co. despite the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s January grounding of all Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes, owing to safety concerns. “Even considering this,” he says, “relatively steady earnings are projected and share valuation metrics are low,” making the Tokyo-based carrier’s stock price especially attractive. Hitotsuyanagi also likes Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, an international shipping and transport company headquartered in Tokyo. Thanks to “reorganization of the firm’s vessel fleet, mainly in dry bulk operations,” he says, “earnings are expected to grow strongly from fiscal year 2013 [which began this month] onward. In addition, new-vessel supply in the resource and energy field is likely to stabilize — a potential positive in terms of freight rates.” Hitotsuyanagi has “good industry knowledge,” declares one supporter, “and his work always stands out.” — Paul Sweeney