The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Johnson & Johnson, Morgan Stanley, Sinopec, American Electric Power And Kinder Morgan

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – February 26, 2020 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) , Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) , Sinopec (NYSE:SNP) , American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP) and Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) .

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Research Reports for Johnson & Johnson, Morgan Stanley and Sinopec

The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Johnson & Johnson, Morgan Stanley and Sinopec. These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.

You can see all of today’s research reports here >>>

Johnson & Johnson’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry over the past year (+7.2% vs. +5.3%). The Zacks analyst believes that J&J is witnessing significant generic/biosimilar headwinds in the Pharma unit.

However, the unit is performing above-market levels, supported by contribution from new drugs like Tremfya and successful label expansion of cancer drugs like Imbruvica and Darzalex and immunology drug, Stelara. J&J is also making rapid progress with its pipeline and line extensions.

It gained FDA approval for two new drugs in 2019, Balversa and Spravato. Several pivotal data readouts and regulatory milestones are expected in 2020. Headwinds like biosimilar/generic competition and pricing pressure remain. J&J faces numerous lawsuits, which allege personal injuries to patients caused by the use of its products. These lawsuits have resulted in uncertainty.

Shares of Morgan Stanley have gained +23.7% in the past six months against the Zacks Investment Banking industry’s rise of +16.8%. The Zacks analyst believes that the company’s planned acquisition of E*Trade Financial for $13 billion will further support Wealth Management business.

Improving economy and focus on corporate lending operation are expected to continue supporting profitability. The company has an impressive earnings surprise history, having outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters.

Although dependence on capital markets to generate trading and investment banking revenues, lower rates and continuously rising operating expenses are major near-term concerns, initiatives to further strengthen investment management operation are likely to support top-line growth. Also, enhanced capital deployment activities reflect a strong balance sheet position and will enhance shareholder value.

Sinopec’s shares have lost 9.2% over the past three months against the Zacks Integrated Oil industry’s fall of 7.3%. The Zacks analyst believes that Sinopec’s natural gas business has immense potential for growth over the coming years as China intends to move from coal to natural gas.

Sinopec is among the largest integrated energy players in China, with significant presence in upstream and downstream businesses. Further, the company has made major progress in identifying economically-viable oil & gas reserves. A huge scale of prospective new reserves was discovered in a number of prolific oil & gas resources like Sichuan Basin & Jiyang Depression.

However, the disruption in China’s economy owing to the outbreak of coronavirus will continue to hurt the firm’s refining business. With declining demand for chemical products, the firm’s chemicals operations are expected to take a hit.

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include American Electric Power and Kinder Morgan.

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