Douglas Harned | Douglas Harned Sanford C. Bernstein SECOND TEAM David Strauss UBS THIRD TEAM Joseph Nadol JPMorgan RUNNERS-UP Joseph Campbell Jr. Barclays ; George Shapiro Citi ; Heidi Wood Morgan Stanley |
Douglas Harned of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. soars from third place to capture first-place honors for the first time. “As a source of raw information, Harned is the best in the group,” cheers one money manager. Harned has maintained a market-perform rating on Northrop Grumman Corp. since launching coverage in January 2005, citing soft revenue growth. For the 12 months ended mid-September, shares of the Los Angeles–based military equipment manufacturer slipped 8.3 percent, 4.3 percentage points less than the sector declined. Harned, 54, who earned an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, was an aviation industry consultant before joining Bernstein in 2004. In second place is David Strauss of UBS, who was unranked last year. Strauss wins praise for what one client terms “an early and contrarian call” on BE Aerospace, a Wellington, Florida–based manufacturer of aircraft-cabin interiors. Strauss downgraded the stock to sell in February, at $42.80, on valuation. By mid-September the share price had tumbled 50.6 percent, to $21.13. Also unranked last year, Joseph Nadol of JPMorgan Securities finishes third and is described by one buy-sider as “a critical thinker who is not afraid to take controversial views.” Nadol upgraded Bombardier in November, at E3.60 ($2.45), on strong cash flow. In June, after the aircraft manufacturer’s shares had soared 48.6 percent, to E5.35, Nadol downgraded them to hold, on valuation. By mid-September the stock had slid to E4.79.
