Johnson & Johnson Looks Fit to Investors

As most Big Pharma shares continue to stumble, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ Quote) continues to march ahead so steadily that one analyst likens J&J's shares to the medical equities version of U.S. Treasuries. And that's not bad, considering today's market.

For the first eight months of the year, J&J's stock gained 11.9%. The Amex Pharmaceutical Index, which contains 15 stocks including J&J's, was down 4.2%, with only three other stocks in the black. During that same period, the S&P 500 index was down 0.6%. And J&J's stock has done well even though several big products are under the gun -- or soon will be -- by brand-name and generic competition.

J&J's rising stock can't be attributed to Wall Street hype because equity analysts aren't flocking to its shares. According to Thomson First Call, J&J has garnered nine buy recommendations, 13 hold ratings and one sell rating. (By contrast, 21 analysts advocate buying Pfizer(PFE Quote), while nine have hold ratings. Pfizer's stock was down 7.7% during the first eight months of the year.) ...