UPDATE: William Blair Reiterates On Mead Johnson Nutrition Following Changes In China's One-Child Policy

In a report published Friday, William Blair analyst Jon Andersen reiterated an Outperform rating on Mead Johnson Nutrition (NYSE: MJN).

In the report, William Blair maps out the effects of the changes on China's One-Child Policy: " • Chinese state media that reported the country's one-child policy is to be loosened. The official Xinhua News Agency said the Communist party announced the policy changes following a four-day meeting of party leaders that ended Tuesday in Beijing. • Under the new family-planning rules, couples can have two children if one of the parents is an only child. China's one-child policy currently limits most urban couples to one child and allows two children for rural families if their first-born is a girl. Other exceptions previously also included allowing two children for parents who are themselves both only children. • The law has caused social problems, including uncertainty for the elderly who are left with a limited safety net, as four grandparents and two parents generally only have one caretaker in old age. • As most investors are aware, events in China have both pushed and pulled on Mead's stock in recent years. Still, we view this development as a positive for Mead, and continue to recommend the shares as growth in Asia and Latin America—coupled with what appears to be a nascent recovery in U.S. births and potential for G&A expense leverage—should drive above-average earnings growth, and maintenance of a strong financial position and capital returns, over time."

Mead Johnson Nutrition closed Thursday at $80.88.