0623 GMT 19 July [Dow Jones] STOCK CALL: Barclays lowers its target price of Japan’s three major shipping companies-- Nippon Yusen (9101.TO) to Y270 from Y300, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (9104.TO) to Y240 from Y300, and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (9107.TO) to Y150 from Y210-- and maintains its ratings at Overweight, Equalweight and Overweight, respectively. The target price cut is due to a reduction for the house’s dry bulker rate assumptions for FY12, which came below the trio’s 1H assumptions. “An upturn in rates in 2012 will be difficult to realize,” it says, noting that there are many market players in the dry bulker market, compared with the container market, coupled with rising supplies of new vessels. Nippon Yusen ends 3.3% lower at Y178, Mitsui O.S.K. finishes down 2.9% at Y235 and Kawasaki Kisen falls 5.1% to Y112 at the close.
- Miyuki Seguchi, Dow Jones Newswires