JPM initiates Timken at 'neutral', seeing balanced near-term risk and reward

** J.P.Morgan initiates coverage on U.S. engineered bearings maker Timken NYSE:TKR at "neutral", seeing the company as a high-quality engineering franchise with a balanced near-term risk/reward

** Notes Timken's strategy of technical depth, disciplined M&A, local-for-local manufacturing remains intact

** Sees Timken's broader industrial platform, which materially reduced cyclicality, as the structural reason the company can outgrow underlying industrial production over the cycle

** Also sees around 3% organic growth driven by the company's Industrial Motion business, as well as selective share gains in renewables and aerospace

** J.P.Morgan sets an $80 target price, noting the stock's relative discount reflecting governance overhang and perceived cyclicality