A Big Upgrade for Morningstar

Every day, the sun rises on Wall Street, and a plethora of professional analysts wake to issue new opinions on stocks. Here at the Fool, we use our "This Just In" column to examine some of these picks -- and track the record of the firm behind them-- so individuals can make better investing decisions.

In addition to following professional banks, anyone can use Motley Fool CAPS to monitor the collective opinions of more than 115,000 members, many of whom demonstrate better investing insight than published analysts do.

Enough top-performing CAPS members have turned bullish on Morningstar (Nasdaq: MORN) recently to upgrade it from the three-star rank it held six months ago to a top notch five stars. A total of 803 members have given their opinion on Morningstar, with many of them offering analysis and commentary explaining the recent optimism.

While some investors may think the decaying market would be bad news for Morningstar, a broad customer base at the investment research firm keeps business strong. Advising institutional clients like Prudential (NYSE: PRU) and MetLife (NYSE: MET) in regards to their managed assets in addition to the research for clients like Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) resulted in second quarter revenue gains of 26% for its institutional business. Assets under advisement also grew by 22%.

With its commitment to provide leading products and timely data, Morningstar has become a valued investment advisor for institutions, a resource for individuals, and an investment manager. The firm also strives to keep up with the changing fund world, such as when it recently added a new asset classification (alternative assets) and fund categories (global real estate and currency).

And while a financially committed founder and management team doesn't guarantee success -- think Thornburg Mortgage (NYSE: TMA) -- Morningstar's 61% insider ownership coupled with its solid financial foundation make it less likely to be the next financial fallout. Nearly 97% of the CAPS members rating Morningstar see it well positioned to weather the market storm as well and expect it to outperform the market.

To see what the very best CAPS analysts are saying now about Morningstar -- as well as other winning stocks they are picking -- head on over to CAPS and have a look.

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